USA
Koha Hosting, Support and Migration for Libraries in the USA
For school districts, public libraries, colleges and special libraries that want Koha without running a server: a price you can read before you call, your records moved from Destiny, Polaris, Symphony or Horizon, and your self-check machines still working on day one.
What we hear
The problems libraries here bring us
“Our renewal quote went up again, and nobody will give us a straight price for anything else.”
“Our district runs one library system across every school, and switching sounds like a year of work.”
“We are still on Horizon or an old Symphony release, and we know we will have to move soon.”
“Our patrons’ reading history has to stay confidential, and we need to know exactly what the system keeps.”
How we set it up
Configured for where your library is
Whether we install a new Koha, migrate you onto one, host it, or support the Koha you already run.
A price you can read before you call
Koha itself is free, open-source software. Koha Cloud’s Basic plan has a published price in US dollars, with the first three months free and staff training included. A district or library system larger than that gets a written quote in time for your budget cycle.
Out of Destiny, Polaris, Symphony or Horizon
MARC21 records, items and barcodes, patrons, open loans, holds and fines are moved with test loads and a reconciliation report. A district becomes one catalog with a branch per school, each with its own shelves, staff and loan rules, and student accounts are refreshed each term from a roster file.
Reading history kept to your policy
Most states protect library records by law, so Koha is set to your written policy: reading history kept, kept only when a patron asks, or anonymised after return. Staff permissions decide who sees circulation records, and you can download a full copy of your data whenever you want it.
Across the country
Set up the way US libraries work
| What | How we set it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Time zones | Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii | Arizona and Hawaii keep standard time all year; each branch has its own named zone |
| Dates and paper | mm/dd/yyyy, US Letter, standard US label sheets | Slips, notices and spine labels come out the way your staff expect |
| Interface languages | English, Spanish, Hawaiian | Staff and patron screens in English and Spanish side by side |
| World-language collections | Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic and more, in their own scripts | Searchable in script, and Chinese, Korean and Arabic print on Koha Cloud slips |
| Where you start | Destiny, Polaris, Symphony, Horizon, Sierra, Atriuum, Alexandria or spreadsheets | Records, patrons, loans, holds and fines reconciled before go-live |
| School districts | One catalog, a branch per school | Each school runs its own library; the district sees all of them |
| Student accounts | Roster file imported each term | Graduates expire and new students arrive without retyping |
| Self-check and RFID | SIP2 | The kiosks and gates you own keep working, tested before go-live |
| Copy cataloging | MARC21 over Z39.50, including the Library of Congress | Most new books arrive as a downloaded record, not typed in |
| Before go-live | A test copy loaded with your own records | Staff practise on their own data before the switch, not on a demo |
| Library groups | One shared catalog for a consortium or county system | Each library keeps its own patrons, staff and loan rules |
| Reports | Built-in reports, and on Koha Cloud questions asked in plain English | Board and annual statistics numbers without writing SQL |
| Training | Live online sessions plus step-by-step written guides | New staff learn without waiting for the next session |
| Privacy | Reading history kept, on request, or anonymised | Matches your board’s written policy |
| Support | Online, scheduled in your time zone | Training and help in your working day |
School, public, academic and special libraries. Canada has its own page, and Mexico is on our Latin America page.
Included
What we look after
A published price
Koha Cloud Basic has a public price in US dollars and three months free.
Leave your old system
Destiny, Polaris, Symphony or Horizon, moved and reconciled.
A branch per school
One district catalog, with each school running its own library.
Reading history private
Kept, kept on request, or anonymised after return, as your policy says.
SIP2 self-check and RFID
The equipment you already own, connected and tested before go-live.
No discovery add-on to buy
Koha Cloud’s patron catalog has AI search built in, on any phone or Chromebook.
More in Koha Cloud, not in standard Koha
Tamper-evident records
Every book’s movements and every fine, payment and waiver in an append-only history. Any change is detected and flagged.
Audit-ready recordsGate register and footfall
Members and walk-ins check in and out; time spent, peak hours and daily trends are reported.
Visitor managementMembership plans
As many paid plans as you sell, with freezes, grace days, study-only passes and renewals.
Membership plansPartner-library loans
Lend to and borrow collections from libraries outside the system, with agreements, deposits and due dates tracked.
How partner loans are trackedAI built into Koha Cloud
Advanced library automation, with an AI assistant for your staff and readers
Koha Cloud is more than hosting. On any plan, your library can add an AI assistant inside the librarian panel that catalogues, audits and reports alongside your staff. Write to it in English or Spanish, and it answers in the same language. It proposes; a librarian approves every change.
Copy cataloguing from every source
Give it an ISBN or a title. It searches your own Z39.50 and SRU servers in the order you rank them, then Google Books and Open Library, and brings back the 10 best matches, each labelled with its source. You pick one; the record is drafted for you to confirm.
DDC numbers and author marks
Suggests a Dewey number and a Cutter-style author mark worked out from cataloguing rules and your library’s own convention, for one book or every record missing one. A librarian approves each change.
Catalogue health score
40 checks rolled into one score out of 100: missing marks, invalid ISBNs, likely duplicates, records with no copies. It ranks the worst problems first, tracks the score over time, and fixes them in reviewed batches.
Stock audits and registers
Accession register, stocktake summary, missing items, item history, holdings as of any date and reconciliation, asked for in a sentence instead of built as a report.
Reports on request
Most-borrowed titles, dormant stock, overdues, fines, branch comparisons: 28 ready reports, asked as a question and saved for next time.
Patrons search in plain words
On your public catalogue a reader can type “books on climate change in Urdu published after 2015” or “Agatha Christie novels on the shelf right now”, and the AI turns it into a catalogue search with the right filters.
The same assistant also runs the circulation desk, acquisitions, patron registration, labels and your library's public website by chat, within each staff member's own permissions.
Koha Cloud pricing
Hosted Koha from $30 a month
Or $300 a year, saving $60. Up to 5,000 titles and 10,000 copies, 5 staff and 1,000 patrons, with hosting, a subdomain, data migration, the public catalog, cataloguing, circulation, acquisitions, administration and training. The same price in every country; larger libraries get a tailored quote.
Not ready to change your library system? Put just your catalogue online from $10 a month, from your spreadsheet, SLiMS export or register.
Already running Koha?
We support and fix the Koha you have, on your own server, and train your team in live sessions.
Koha supportMoving to Koha?
From another library system or a spreadsheet, validated and reconciled before go-live.
Koha data migrationYour team needs training?
Private live sessions for your staff on your own Koha, in your working hours.
Koha staff trainingFAQ
What libraries in the country ask us
How much does Koha cost?
Koha itself is free, open-source software: what costs money is hosting it, supporting it and moving your records in. Koha Cloud's Basic plan has a published price in US dollars, with the first three months free and staff training included. A larger district or library system gets a written quote, and support for a Koha you run yourself is quoted too.
Is Koha an alternative to Follett Destiny for a school district?
For the library, yes. Koha runs a district as one catalog with a branch per school, each with its own shelves, staff and loan rules, student accounts are refreshed each term from a roster file, and students search from a Chromebook or a phone. If you also use Destiny to track textbooks or devices, that is a separate job Koha is not built for, so we go through what you use before you decide.
Can you migrate us from Polaris, Symphony or Horizon?
Yes. Bibliographic and item records, patrons, open loans, holds and fines are moved with test loads and a reconciliation report before go-live, and the exceptions are documented rather than hidden. We plan the switch around your contract end date.
How is patron reading history protected?
Koha is set to your written privacy policy: reading history kept, kept only when a patron asks, or anonymised after each return. Staff permissions decide who can see circulation records, connections are encrypted, and you can download a full copy of your data at any time.
Will our self-check machines and RFID gates still work?
If they speak SIP2, which most do, yes. We connect and test each one before go-live, and keep the configuration documented.
Do we need a separate discovery layer on top of Koha?
Not with Koha Cloud. Its patron catalog is modern and mobile-first, with AI search that understands a question typed in plain words, so there is no second product to buy, host or keep in sync. On a Koha you run yourself, we set up and theme Koha's own patron catalog.
Can a group of libraries share one catalog?
Yes. A consortium, county system or district searches one shared catalog, while each library keeps its own patrons, staff, loan rules and branding. Whether libraries lend to each other is a separate choice each one makes.
Do you support libraries in US working hours?
Yes. Training sessions and support are scheduled in your own time zone, from Eastern to Hawaii.
Related reading
Background reading
Koha vs other library systems
An honest comparison with commercial systems.
Read the guideKoha data migration
Moving from your current system without surprises.
Read the guideKoha SIP2 integration
Self-check and RFID with Koha.
Read the guideOther regions
By type of library
Our services
Get a quote
Talk to us about your library
Tell us where you are and what you run today. We reply in your working hours.