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What are the best read-it-later apps?

17

Options
Considered

269

User
Recs.

Jul 20, 2020

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 16 OptionsWhy?

Best read-it-later apps	Price	Platforms	Software Type
90 Pocket	-	Android, iOS, Kobo, web, macOS, Windows	Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari extension, desktop app
86 Instapaper	-	web, Android, iOS	-
-- PaperSpan	-	iOS, Android, Web, Chrome	-
-- Wallabag	-	-	-
-- Zholink	-	-	-

Pocket

Add Video or Image

Top Pro

Saves progress

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

Top 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. See More

Daniel Naron's Experience

Although I haven't tried anything else, Pocket is well polished and very comfortable to use 👍 See More

Specs

Platforms:Android, iOS, Kobo, web, macOS, Windows

Software Type:Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari extension, desktop app

Top Pro

Tag-based organizational system

Top 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. See More

Raghu Ranganathan's Experience

It syncs all your bookmarks EVERYWHERE. I bet it works on my toaster oven. I've used pocket a lot before, and it becomes a habit to store things on pocket. It's quick and easy to setup and works anywhere. I've had no problems with this. It's an excellent service. See More

Top Pro

Allows listening to saved articles

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

Top Con

Only the paid version allows to search by tag

StudiousLahamu's Experience

i can use everywhere See More

Top 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. See More

Top Con

Some content is just links that need to be opened externally

Top Pro

Allows reading saved content in offline mode

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

Top Con

Can't import Firefox bookmark tags

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

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Suggests new reads

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

Top Pro

Available on the web and mobile devices

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

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Well-finished GUI and UX

Top Pro

The Pocket plugin for Google Chrome is very stable

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Allows tagging bookmarks

Bookmarks can be tagged for search accuracy later on. See More

Top Pro

Imports all bookmarks and converts them into articles for offline reading

Top Pro

Ability to filter by content type

Top Pro

Works well across Google Chrome on macOS and iOS

Top Pro

Code snippets display correctly

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15 Other Options Considered

Instapaper

Add Video or Image

Top 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. See More

Top Con

Became a paid service again

Most functions, like search, became premium. See More

SincereKrotos's Experience

Stopped working for me. Not available in Europe due to RGPD régulations. See More

Specs

Platforms:web, Android, iOS

Top Pro

Pagination

Allows for pagination, not just scrolling. See More

Top Con

Basic search not free

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

Danil Kutkevich's Experience

imho best offline reader See More

Top 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. See More

Top Con

Only supports English

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

Tom Barron's Experience

Instapaper is the one I've used and I've been happy with it. See More

Top Pro

Awesome offline mode

Top Con

Tags not implemented

HarmoniousNiamh's Experience

Paid service to search is cancer. See More

Top Pro

Can look up words in a dictionary and Wikipedia

Top Con

Embedded images and videos are sometimes ignored

Instapaper sometimes saves articles without images or videos. See More

Čárlí Šubaduba's Experience

You don't get the option to add tags, but in the free account - they archive all the articles with photos even if they are deleted and in Pocket this is a paid function! See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

SpiritedPramzimas's Experience

They removed fundamental functionality like searching after going Premium again. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Has a font designed for readers with Dyslexia

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

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

PaperSpan

Add Video or Image

Top Pro

Text to speech and Playlist

Top Con

I regularly get the notification "Power intenstive app". The app continues to refresh in the background.

Specs

Platforms:iOS, Android, Web, Chrome

Top Pro

Simple & beautiful

App is plain simple to use and looks beautiful. See More

Top Con

Paperscan does not indicate the length of videos and audio

Top Pro

Offline availability on Android and iOS

Top Con

No preview images of Youtube links

Top Pro

Automatic categorization

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

Top Pro

Highlighting

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Send to Kindle

Top Pro

Create playlist

Top Pro

Notes for article

Wallabag

Add Video or Image

Top Pro

Optional server self hosting

Top Con

Paragraphs missing

Paragraphs within downloaded articles are missing. See More

Timo Dinkler's Experience

€ 25 per year for a basic & poor UI with limited facilities is not so nice. Self hosted sounds unnecessary for me to maintain my own app and updating it as you update, all while paying for another service. See More

Top Pro

Open source

Top Con

Poor UI

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

CaringUgallu's Experience

Offline articles See More

Top Pro

Import content from other apps

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

Top Con

Difficult to configure

Top Pro

RSS reader compatible

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

Top Con

Poor Text to Speech

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

Top Pro

epub/kobo integration

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

Top Pro

Firefox and Chrome extensions available

Top Pro

Tagging

Top Pro

Offline article support

Raindrop.io

Add Video or Image

Top Con

No Offline mode

Bookmarks are not available offline. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform

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

Timo Dinkler's Experience

It could have been a great app if some things are fixed. No Offline mode, It has become very slow once I had over 1000 bookmarks, keeps asking for relogin every now and then. And even the app is last update years ago. Guess it is no more maintained. See More

Top Con

No frequent updates

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

Top Pro

Tagging

Add tags to bookmarks. See More

Top Con

No Highlighting

No option to highlight a certain part of the article. See More

Top Pro

Mobile native clients available

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

Top Con

No Listen TTS

No feature to listen to the saved page content. See More

Top Pro

Design (UX)

Really well-done. See More

Top Con

Slow

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

Top Pro

Web clipper

Works well with Chrome browser. See More

Top Pro

Available on many platforms

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

Top Pro

Regularly updated

EmailThis

Add Video or Image

Top 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. See More

MotivatedAchelous's Experience

Found this to be the easiest read later app for saving and organizing bookmarks. See More

Top Pro

PDF snapshots & notes

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

katz's Experience

Works great! With one-click, the whole page gets saved to my email. Great way to quickly capture important content so you can read and explore later. See More

Top Pro

One-click save

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

Top Pro

Makes it easy to organize and save pages for later

Top 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. See More

Gemsmark

Add Video or Image

Top Pro

Available for Web, iOS and Android

Top Pro

Clean, beautiful design

Evernote Web Clipper

Add Video or Image

Top Con

not effective in organizing too many content

Top Con

High resources

Stash.ai

Add Video or Image

Top Con

No pictures

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

Top Pro

Public collections

You can create and share collections of links that are organized by custom categories. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Cross device support

Available for all extensions (Chrome, Safari, Firefox) and has extensions for iOS and Android. You can also push between devices. See More

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