Lumina
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Lumina vs Evergreen · 025.04

Evergreen was built for consortia, and it shows: an org-unit tree with inherited settings, holds that find any copy anywhere, and floating collections. Lumina is built for a single library or a small group, with a quieter desk and mobile apps.

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Evergreen

What Evergreen does best

Open source, consortium-first (used by PINES and Sitka)

  • An org-unit tree with settings that inherit down the hierarchy
  • Hold on any copy anywhere, metarecord holds (any edition or format)
  • Floating collections
  • Browser offline circulation
  • Strong serials and EDI

Rough edges, as reviewers describe them

  • The interface looks dated to many reviewers
  • A steep learning curve and heavy infrastructure
  • The reporter is considered clunky
  • No first-party mobile app

Lumina

Where Lumina differs

  • A keyboard-first desk with a three-state answer and a reason for every block
  • Staff and member mobile apps, and a guard-only gate check
  • Events, room booking and a modern public catalogue
  • INR fines, Razorpay and UPI, Hindi and English
  • A guided report builder and 34 built-in reports

Where Lumina is behind

  • A new product (version 0.1.0), not a mature community
  • SIP2, Z39.50/SRU, OAI-PMH, NCIP, EDIFACT, RFID and plugins are planned, not built
  • Consortium features and UNIMARC are not there yet

Capabilities

Lumina compared with Evergreen. Filled circle: strong or native. Half circle: partial, add-on or early. Empty circle: absent or weak.
CapabilityLuminaEvergreen
MARC21 cataloguingStrong or nativeStrong or native
UNIMARCPlanned in Lumina.Absent or weakPartial, add-on or early
Consortium and union catalogueLumina has library groups; shared catalogue and inherited policy are later work.Partial, add-on or earlyStrong or native
Title-level holds on any copyStrong or nativeStrong or native
Metarecord (any edition) holdsAbsent or weakStrong or native
Floating collectionsAbsent or weakStrong or native
Self-checkout and kioskLumina has a browser kiosk flow; SIP2 hardware support is planned.Partial, add-on or earlyPartial, add-on or early
RFIDPlanned in Lumina.Absent or weakPartial, add-on or early
Room and equipment bookingStrong or nativeAbsent or weak
Events and registrationStrong or nativeAbsent or weak
Reading challenges and clubsThe engagement module is early; some pieces are Planned in the parity table.Partial, add-on or earlyAbsent or weak
Modern public catalogue UIPartly a matter of taste; see the screenshots.Strong or nativeAbsent or weak
Digital lending integrationsPlanned in Lumina.Absent or weakPartial, add-on or early
Dashboards and analyticsStrong or nativePartial, add-on or early
SMS, WhatsApp and push noticesStrong or nativePartial, add-on or early
Online paymentsRazorpay (UPI) with a sandbox in Lumina.Strong or nativePartial, add-on or early
Staff mobile appStrong or nativeAbsent or weak
Patron mobile appStrong or nativeAbsent or weak
WCAG 2.2 AALumina is built WCAG-minded but has had no independent audit.Partial, add-on or earlyPartial, add-on or early
Indic scripts and collationPartial, add-on or earlyPartial, add-on or early
Interlibrary loanPartial, add-on or earlyStrong or native
Course reserves and reading listsStrong or nativePartial, add-on or early
E-resource management (licences, KBART, COUNTER)Partial, add-on or earlyPartial, add-on or early
Open APIs and webhooksStrong or nativePartial, add-on or early
Offline circulationStrong or nativeStrong or native
Time to first value (install to working)Partial, add-on or earlyAbsent or weak

Strong or native   Partial, add-on or early   Absent or weak

Based on vendor documentation, community pages and our own review as of October 2026. Ratings are judgements; spot-check any cell that matters to you. The Lumina column reflects code that exists today, not its roadmap.

Choose Evergreen if

  • You run a consortium with a shared catalogue and central policy
  • You need metarecord holds or floating collections now
  • Your team is comfortable running its infrastructure

Choose Lumina if

  • You are one library or a small group
  • You want staff and member mobile apps and a gate check
  • You want a simpler path to a first working desk, and Hindi and INR from day one
Moving from Evergreen? Lumina has no dedicated Evergreen importer. Catalogue records can come in through staged MARC import, and patrons through patron import.
Does Lumina do consortia?

Not yet. Library groups exist, but shared catalogues, inherited policy and a central holds queue are later work. If consortium management is central to you, Evergreen or Koha is the stronger choice today.

Coming from Koha instead? See the migration plan or compare with Koha.

Next step

See your library in Lumina.

Thirty minutes, your questions, and a walk through the desk, the catalogue and the Koha import. No slides.

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