What are the best read-it-later apps?

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Recs.

Jan 26, 2024

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Updated

Pocket vs Instapaper vs Wallabag

vs PaperSpan vs Raindrop.io vs EmailThis vs Zholink vs Flashbackr vs Tagpacker vs Omnivore vs Readability vs Gemsmark vs Basket vs Stash.ai vs Bookmate vs Evernote Web Clipper vs Mailist vs OneNote Clipper vs NewsPal vs Odin - Organize your brain dump vs Pages

Specs

Platforms

Android, iOS, Kobo, web, macOS, Windows

Software Type

Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari extension, desktop app

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web, Android, iOS

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Windows, Linux, Web, Mobile

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iOS, Android, Web, Chrome

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Windows, Linux, Mac, Mobile

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Web

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Yes

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Platforms

web, Android, iOS

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web, browser extenstion, Chrome, Firefox

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FREE

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Mac, iOS, Web

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Pros + Cons

Pro
Tag-based organizational system

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Pro
Available on the web and mobile devices

Pocket is available on iOS, Android, Kobo eReader and on the web.

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Pro
Integrates with over 500 apps

A key advantage of Pocket is that it is integrated in over 500 apps as a way to save the link, including Twitter, Flipboard, Pulse and Zite.

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Pro
Can playback inline video

Pocket will play videos from YouTube, Vimeo and other sources that are embedded in articles, but you have to be online for playback to work.

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Pro
Saves progress

Pocket lets you know where you left off reading an article. Great for long reads.

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Con
Can't rename the title of links

If the page title isn't correct/good for a link, there is no way for you to fix it.

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Pro
The Pocket plugin for Google Chrome is very stable

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Con
Correct and open export of bookmarks and tags are not possible

This means that Pocket is (currently) a total lock-in. This is very sad, unfortunate and creates a no go decision for any seasoned user. Too many bookmarking and tagging companies have stopped or have gone bankrupt these last years (e.g. Kippt, Spingpad, Delicious (to some extent), etc.). So, if you are going to invest a lot of your personal time and energy in curating your Internet findings (i.e. your bookmarks and tags), it is essential that a total, fair and open export (including all tags) functionality is provided. Personally tested the export "feature" and the resulting .html file that Pocket generates currently included only the URLs themselves, i.e. no save dates nor any of your personally curated tags, nor any other useful meta-data. This is deplorable, because otherwise, Pocket is a very polished and well-functioning piece of multi-platform and multi-device software/app/web service, with a very easy and well-designed and implemented user interface. These days of open and inter-operable web services, users are only attracted by valuable functionality, clean UX design and no lockins.

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Pro
Works well across Google Chrome on macOS and iOS

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Con
Missing reminders

After some time you are overwhelmed with all the links you have saved and there is no proper system to retrieve them. A daily reminder of random item or ability to set reminders for article to be read at specific time would be nice.

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Pro
Allows listening to saved articles

Pocket comes with a built-in text-to-speech feature that will read out loud saved articles.

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Pro
Allows reading saved content in offline mode

Instead of only saving the link, the content is saved for offline use.

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Pro
Included in Firefox

Pocket is now integrated into the Firefox web browser, and you can login using your Firefox/Mozilla login, instead of having to create a separate account. This login method can even be used natively on their website, regardless what browser is being used.

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Pro
Suggests new reads

Curates suggested reads based on usual read topics. Mostly through ads in-app and email subscription.

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Con
Can't import Firefox bookmark tags

When importing bookmarks from Firefox, Pocket doesn't include the tags.

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Pro
Recommendations for friends

If you've read an exceptional article you can share it to your followers or you can see what your friends are recommending to read.

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Pro
Allows setting offline storage limits

If your device does not have enough space to store offline articles, Pocket allows users to set the maximum size for the app to store offline articles. Priority of the offline articles will be based on newest first or oldest first, based on the users preferences.

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Con
Only the paid version allows to search by tag

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Pro
Allows tagging bookmarks

Bookmarks can be tagged for search accuracy later on.

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Con
No annotation tools

Can't attach notes or highlight text.

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Con
No support for offline content

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Con
Became a paid service again

Most functions, like search, became premium.

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Pro
Annotation tools

Allows leaving notes attached to articles and highlighting certain part of the text. Free version of the app is limited to 5 highlights a month.

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Pro
Excellent typography choices

Instapaper allows you to choose from 14 different fonts, some of which have been designed specifically for the application. You can manually adjust spacing between lines, padding around text and font size to fit your preferences.

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Con
Basic search not free

Basic search for link title or website too is part of the premium.

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Pro
Allows listening to articles

Instapaper comes with a build in text-to-speech feature that will read out loud articles. Premium version of the app allows creating playlists.

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Con
Embedded images and videos are sometimes ignored

Instapaper sometimes saves articles without images or videos.

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Pro
Articles can be emailed to Instapaper

You can add articles to Instapaper by sending them to a unique email address associated with your account.

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Pro
Pagination

Allows for pagination, not just scrolling.

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Pro
Awesome offline mode

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Pro
Can look up words in a dictionary and Wikipedia

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Pro
Can be set to switch to dark mode based on time of day

Instapaper includes a dark theme and allows switching to it after a set period in time or gradually over the course of the day.

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Con
Only supports English

It only supports English, and not Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages.

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Pro
Rarely seen organization options

In addition to allowing you to sort articles by when you saved them, you can also order articles by length or read progress and popularity.

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Con
Tags not implemented

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Pro
Free archiving of deleted webpages

In Pocket, this is a paid function - but Instapaper provides this for free! If a webpage is deleted, it remains in your Instapaper and they even archive pictures of the articles.

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Pro
Can playback inline video

Instapaper will play videos from YouTube, Vimeo and other sources that are embedded in articles, but you have to be online for playback to work.

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Pro
Has a font designed for readers with Dyslexia

Instapaper includes Dyslexie a font that helps people with reading problems understand the text better.

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Pro
Includes optional social features

If you set your Instapaper profile to be public, your friends will be able to see articles you've liked.

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Con
Search functions return random articles

The search function is very slow and does not provide accurate results. The user can not filter or reorder the search results, or search the archive or annotated articles.

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Pro
Optional server self hosting

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Con
Poor UI

UI is not as good as other apps in this category.

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Pro
Open source

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Con
Paragraphs missing

Paragraphs within downloaded articles are missing.

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Pro
Firefox and Chrome extensions available

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Pro
Tagging

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Pro
Offline article support

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Pro
Import content from other apps

It's possible to import content from other apps, i.e Pocket

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Con
Difficult to configure

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Pro
RSS reader compatible

Miniflux, Vienna, FreshRSS, Tiny Tiny RSS, Leed FeedReader, Fiery Feeds.

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Pro
epub/kobo integration

Integration within Kobo reader through simple hack allows epub creation of saved articles.

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Con
Poor Text to Speech

Text to Speech frequently breaks and doesn't respond to speed change.

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Pro
Highlighting

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Pro
Text to speech and Playlist

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Pro
Automatic categorization

Articles are auto-categorized when you save them. So you can read them later by picking by categories.

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Pro
Send to Kindle

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Pro
Simple & beautiful

App is plain simple to use and looks beautiful.

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Pro
Offline availability on Android and iOS

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Con
No preview images of Youtube links

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Con
Outdated

Haven’t updated for more than 2 years, so many of the new features supported by OS is missing.

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Pro
Notes for article

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Pro
Can take notes

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Pro
Reliable

Works for almost all links.

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Pro
Very clean design

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Pro
Lightweight

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Pro
Reading statistics

Gives details about how many articles have been read, unread, and time spent reading. Word cloud of all articles saved. More statistics available on iOS, but for premium.

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Con
"Power intensive app" notification

The app continues to refresh in the background.

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Con
Paperscan does not indicate the length of videos and audio

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Pro
Create playlist

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Pro
Available on many platforms

Including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, as well as extensions for the Crome browser, Firefox, Safari and Opera.

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Con
No highlighting

No option to highlight a certain part of the article.

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Con
No Listen TTS

No feature to listen to the saved page content.

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Con
Slow

It can become slow once you go past over 1000 bookmarks.

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Pro
Web clipper

Works well with Chrome browser.

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Pro
Cross-platform

Cross-platform because it's browser based. There are also apps for Mac, Chrome, iOs & Android.

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Pro
Design (UX)

Really well-done.

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Pro
Mobile native clients available

Clients for iOS and Android available that are better integrated than the browser version.

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Con
No offline mode

Bookmarks are not available offline.

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Con
No frequent updates

Android app last updated over a year and a half ago.

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Pro
Tagging

Add tags to bookmarks.

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Pro
Good searching capability

Unsorted by default with good search capabality allows for building a workflow for processing new bookmarks without needing to categorize everything to be able to retrieve it later

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Pro
Nested Collections

Lends itself really well to categorization

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Pro
Automatic Backups

Integrates seamlessly with Dropbox and never have to worry about it again

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Pro
Great Performance

Works without any lag with lots of bookmarks and collections since updates

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Con
Security/privacy concerns

The contact information on the website indicates that the business is a sole proprietorship based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The privacy policy, section 3 concerning how the information they collect may be disclosed, may be concerning to some users given recent events that have been alleged to involve the governing authorities for this business.

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Pro
Regularly updated

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Pro
Available on the web and mobile devices

Extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. Bookmarklet for Safari & IE. Also includes a 'mail to self' feature for Android and iOS devices.

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Pro
PDF snapshots & notes

Lets to save PDF snapshots of all web pages. EmailThis also lets you add notes and keywords for faster searching.

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Pro
One-click save

The Chrome extension allows you to save articles with a single click.

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Pro
Makes it easy to organize and save pages for later

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Pro
Allows reading saved content in offline mode

Web pages are cleaned up and sent to your email inbox. They can be accessed even offline from mobile devices.

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Pro
Simple

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Pro
Well designed

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Pro
Free

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Pro
Unlimited free space

There is no limit to how much free space you can get on Flashbackr by inviting friends, which is a great feature for an Evernote alternative.

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Con
No encryption

Content is not encrypted and therefore sits at rest in a format visible to the developers. This is therefore the same low level of privacy as with Evernote, Google Keep and OneNote.

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Pro
Simple and beautiful

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Pro
Fast UX in browser plugin

When the plugin is installed, you cannot beat the usability with tagging.

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Pro
Shareable

Individual or public setting.

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Con
No android app

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Con
UI is not so good

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Con
By default links are public

Links added are always public. We have to explicitly change each link to private. This exposes my interests and tastes to public. Not recommended.

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Con
No Tag Suggestions

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Pro
Made in Germany

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Con
Service is now defunct

This service was terminated on 30th September 2016.

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Con
No longer updated since 2013

Readability is no longer updated. The last update for this app is on January 7, 2013, which means no app redesigns, bug fixes or new features will be available.

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Pro
Allows seeing what other people are reading

You can follow friend's feeds to find out what they are interested in.

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Pro
Available for Web, iOS and Android

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Pro
Clean, beautiful design

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Con
Unreliable

Since December, 2018 the website is down for over 3 months and no one from support responded despite repeated effort to get my links exported.

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Pro
Best UX

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Pro
Minimal design

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Pro
No ads

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Con
Not on iOS yet

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Con
No pictures

Unlike other bookmarking tools (like Pocket), the interface does not show thumbnails or pictures. Stash shows category icons instead.

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Con
No more updated

The application has not received updates for over a year. It is plausible to think that its development has been abandoned, yet no mention was made of it on the site and the possibility of its free use was not offered at least until its natural obsolescence.

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