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Add to SafariWhen comparing Raindrop.io vs Instapaper, the Slant community recommends Raindrop.io for most people. In the question“What are the best ways to organize bookmarks?” Raindrop.io is ranked 4th while Instapaper is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Raindrop.io is:
Really well-done.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Design (UX)
Really well-done.
Pro Mobile native clients available
Clients for iOS and Android available that are better integrated than the browser version.
Pro Cross-platform
Cross-platform because it's browser based. There are also apps for Mac, Chrome, iOs & Android.
Pro Tagging
Add tags to bookmarks.
Pro Import bookmarks
Offers a possibility to import bookmarks from browsers.
Pro Regularly updated
Updated with features, yet not with performance.
Pro Export bookmarks
There is also a possibility to export bookmarks.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pro Pagination
Allows for pagination, not just scrolling.
Pro Awesome offline mode
Pro Can look up words in a dictionary and Wikipedia
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pro Has a font designed for readers with Dyslexia
Instapaper includes Dyslexie a font that helps people with reading problems understand the text better.
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.
Cons
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.
Con Slow performance in Safari
Slow to use with delays in response on Safari. Has not been fixed over many years.
Con Subscriptions are non-recurring
You have to resubscribe every month to keep pro which is a real pain.
Con Quite new company
Time will tell if this product will survive.
Con Became a paid service again
Most functions, like search, became premium.
Con Basic search not free
Basic search for link title or website too is part of the premium.
Con Embedded images and videos are sometimes ignored
Instapaper sometimes saves articles without images or videos.
Con Only supports English
It only supports English, and not Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages.
Con Tags not implemented
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.
