Self-Hosted Alternatives to Pocket
Why Replace Pocket?
Pocket was acquired by Mozilla in 2017 and has seen minimal development since. Key concerns:
- Privacy: Pocket tracks your reading habits and shares data for recommendations
- Feature stagnation: Core features haven’t improved significantly in years
- Vendor lock-in: Your saved articles live on Pocket’s servers
- Ads: Pocket Premium costs $45/year; free tier shows sponsored content
- Uncertain future: Mozilla has been downsizing, and Pocket’s long-term status is unclear
Self-hosting your read-later service means your reading list stays private, works offline, and can’t disappear if a company pivots.
Best Alternatives
Wallabag — Best Overall Replacement
Wallabag is the closest self-hosted equivalent to Pocket. Save articles, read them in a clean format, sync across devices.
Why it wins: Native mobile apps (Android + iOS), offline reading, Pocket import, e-reader integration (Kindle/Kobo), mature and stable (10+ years of development).
Trade-off: No page archival — only extracts article text. If the original page changes layout, Wallabag’s saved version won’t reflect it.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Wallabag]
Linkwarden — Best for Bookmark Power Users
Linkwarden is a bookmark manager with page archiving and full-text search. Less focused on reading articles, more focused on preserving and organizing links.
Why to consider: Archives full pages (screenshots + PDFs + HTML). Team sharing. Meilisearch-powered full-text search. If you use Pocket mainly as a bookmark collection rather than an article reader, Linkwarden is the better fit.
Trade-off: No native mobile app (PWA only). No offline reading support. Heavier resource usage due to Meilisearch.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Linkwarden]
Omnivore — Best if You Want a Managed Option
Omnivore was an open-source read-later app, but it was acquired by ElevenLabs in late 2024 and the service shut down. The code was open-sourced, but self-hosting requires significant setup. Not recommended for new deployments — the codebase is no longer maintained.
Migration Guide
Exporting from Pocket
- Go to getpocket.com/export
- Click Export HTML file
- This downloads an HTML file with all your saved articles
Importing to Wallabag
- Go to Config → Import → Pocket
- Either import the HTML file, or connect directly via Pocket’s API
- Wallabag fetches and re-processes each article
Importing to Linkwarden
- Go to Settings → Import
- Upload the Pocket HTML export
- Linkwarden imports bookmarks and begins archiving pages
Cost Comparison
| Pocket Free | Pocket Premium | Self-Hosted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $0 | $3.75/month | $0 (runs on existing server) |
| Annual cost | $0 | $45/year | $0 |
| Ads/sponsored content | Yes | No | No |
| Storage limit | Unlimited | Unlimited | Your disk |
| Privacy | Tracked | Tracked (less) | Full control |
| Offline reading | Premium only | Yes | Yes (Wallabag) |
What You Give Up
- Pocket’s recommendation engine — Pocket suggests articles based on popularity. Self-hosted alternatives don’t have this.
- One-click simplicity — Pocket works instantly with a Mozilla account. Self-hosting requires setup and maintenance.
- Third-party app integrations — Some apps integrate directly with Pocket. Most also support generic APIs or can be configured.
Related
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