Open-source Pocket alternatives
Pocket's shutdown permanently deleted every library that wasn't exported by October 8, 2025 — and Omnivore had already vanished the year before. The open-source lane exists so that can't happen to you again: the app is yours, the server is yours, the data is yours.
The short version
Pick Wallabag if you want a classic read-it-later — clean reader, tags, annotations, e-reader export — with the lowest-effort path to owning it: self-host for free or pay €11/year at wallabag.it and let them run it. Pick Karakeep if you want a broader "save everything" box — links, notes and images with AI auto-tagging and full-text search — and you're comfortable running Docker. Both import a Pocket CSV export.
How they compare
| Wallabag | Karakeep | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Read-it-later, article-first | Bookmark-everything (links, notes, images) |
| License | MIT, open source | AGPL, open source |
| Cost | Self-host free · hosted €11/yr | Self-host free · cloud in public beta |
| Hosted option | wallabag.it (official) | Karakeep Cloud (beta) |
| Reader view | ✓ clean, e-reader export | ✓ |
| Highlights / notes | ✓ annotations | Notes ✓ · highlights basic |
| AI tagging | ✗ | ✓ (bring your own LLM key or local) |
| Full-text search | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile apps | iOS + Android | iOS + Android |
| Pocket CSV import | ✓ | ✓ |
| Maturity | Since 2013, stable | Newer, very active (ex-Hoarder) |
When the open-source lane wins
- Shutdown-proofing is the point — your library lives in your database; no company can delete it.
- Privacy — nothing about your reading goes to a third party (Wallabag self-hosted, or Karakeep with a local model).
- Cheap at scale — €11/yr hosted Wallabag vs $60–120/yr for the commercial apps.
- Archival copies — both store the article content you saved, not just the URL, so link rot doesn't eat your library.
When to pick something else
- You don't want to run anything — Instapaper free is zero-maintenance; wallabag.it is the middle ground.
- Polish matters — the commercial readers are smoother, especially on mobile; Readwise Reader if you highlight heavily.
- Bookmark-manager first — also look at Linkwarden and Shiori in the same self-hosted family; Raindrop.io if hosted is fine.