Best Self-Hosted Bookmarks & Read Later in 2026

Quick Picks

Use Case	Best Choice	Why
Best overall	Linkding	Fast, lightweight, dead-simple to set up
Best read-later	Wallabag	Full article extraction, Pocket-like experience
Best feature-rich	Linkwarden	Screenshots, collaboration, collections
Best for teams	Linkwarden	Multi-user with shared collections

The Full Ranking

1. Linkding — Best Overall

Linkding is a minimal, fast bookmark manager that does exactly what it should and nothing more. Single container, SQLite database, under 50 MB of RAM. If you want a self-hosted bookmark manager without the bloat, this is it.

Pros:

• Extremely lightweight (~50 MB RAM idle)
• Single container, no external database needed
• Clean, fast web UI with tags and search
• REST API for integrations
• Browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome
• Bulk import/export (Netscape HTML format)

Cons:

• No full-page archiving (links only, not content)
• No collaboration features
• No screenshot previews by default (requires chromium, adds 200 MB)
• Basic UI — functional but not pretty

Best for: Anyone who wants a fast, reliable bookmark manager without complexity.

[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Linkding]

2. Wallabag — Best Read-Later App

Wallabag is the self-hosted Pocket replacement. It doesn’t just save links — it extracts and stores the full article content for offline reading. If you want to save articles to read later without depending on a third-party service, Wallabag is the answer.

Pros:

• Full article content extraction and storage
• Read articles offline after saving
• Tagging, annotations, and starring
• Mobile apps (iOS and Android)
• Import from Pocket, Instapaper, Pinboard
• RSS feeds for saved articles

Cons:

• Heavier than Linkding (requires PostgreSQL or MySQL)
• UI feels dated compared to modern alternatives
• Article extraction isn’t perfect for all sites
• Setup is more complex (multiple containers)

Best for: Avid readers who save articles to read later and want full content archiving.

[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Wallabag]

3. Linkwarden — Best Feature-Rich Option

Linkwarden goes beyond basic bookmarking with automatic screenshots, full-page archiving, collaboration features, and a polished UI. It’s the most feature-complete self-hosted bookmark manager available.

Pros:

• Automatic screenshot capture of saved pages
• Full-page archiving (PDF and screenshot)
• Collections and sub-collections for organization
• Multi-user with shared collections
• Beautiful, modern UI
• Browser extension and API

Cons:

• Heavier resource usage (Node.js + PostgreSQL + Playwright)
• Requires more RAM (~500 MB+)
• Relatively new project (less battle-tested)
• Screenshot capture can be slow

Best for: Users who want rich bookmark management with archiving and collaboration.

[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Linkwarden]

4. Hoarder — Best AI-Powered Option

Hoarder is a newer bookmark manager that uses AI to automatically tag and categorize saved links. It’s still young but offers a fresh take on bookmark management with automatic organization.

Pros:

• AI-powered auto-tagging
• Full-text search across saved content
• Clean, modern interface
• Browser extension
• Supports bookmarks, notes, and images

Cons:

• Requires an AI API key (OpenAI or local model)
• Still in early development
• Smaller community
• Less proven at scale

Best for: Users who want automated organization and don’t mind bleeding-edge software.

Full Comparison Table

Feature	Linkding	Wallabag	Linkwarden	Hoarder
Primary purpose	Bookmarks	Read later	Bookmarks + archive	Smart bookmarks
Full content extraction	No	Yes	Screenshots + PDF	Yes
Database	SQLite	PostgreSQL/MySQL	PostgreSQL	SQLite/PostgreSQL
RAM usage (idle)	~50 MB	~200 MB	~500 MB	~300 MB
Container count	1	2-3	2-3	2
Mobile apps	No (responsive web)	Yes (iOS + Android)	No (responsive web)	No (responsive web)
Browser extension	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multi-user	Yes	Yes	Yes (collaboration)	Yes
API	REST	REST	REST	REST
Import/Export	Netscape HTML	Pocket, Instapaper	Linkding, HTML	HTML
Offline reading	No	Yes	Via archives	Yes
AI features	No	No	No	Yes (auto-tagging)
Maturity	Stable	Stable	Growing	Early

How We Evaluated

We assessed each tool on setup complexity, daily usability, resource requirements, and how well it solves the core problem: saving and organizing web content. Linkding wins for most users because it’s the fastest to set up, lightest on resources, and does the core job well. Wallabag wins if you specifically need article content extraction for offline reading.

Related

• How to Self-Host Linkding
• How to Self-Host Wallabag
• How to Self-Host Linkwarden
• Linkding vs Wallabag
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Pocket
• Docker Compose Basics
• Reverse Proxy Setup
• Backup Strategy
• Best Self-Hosted Note Taking Apps
• How to Self-Host FreshRSS