Pocket Alternatives
Well, to me at least it came as a shock: Mozilla is shutting down Pocket, the service to save links for later. I still need a web clipper and maybe you do, too. So here are a few alternatives.
Is Mozilla doing fine? Qutting services like Pocket and Fakespot last week don’t shine the brightest light on the former web heavyweight. Sometimes I feel like one of the last Firefox users out there to keep supporting the “free web idea”. And maybe I am – if you consider their latest market share of no more than 2.55% according to StatCounter.
However, the end of Pocket reminds me of the Great Google Reader Take-Down in 2013, when a majority of uses directly migrated to Feedly. The end of Pocket doesn’t leave that one clear successor, but quite a few of them. Which is good news: there’s plenty of options for you to choose from. You’ll find my favourite picks below:
#1 PackPack: If you fancy a one-to-one replacement for Pocket, maybe PackPack will be it. Basically free, it clips your saved articles in a Pinterest-kind of way, using a pinch of AI to let you search through your saved content:
#2 Raindrop is another similar-looking Pocket replacement that lets you arrange your saved articles in categories neatly:
#3 Wallabag is the most “free web” alternative of web clippers I’ve found so far:
#4 Start.me makes a start page out of your web clippings and lets you arrange them in columns:
#5 TabOS: Why not even go one step further and let your webclipper take over your browser? It might not be for everyone (and there is no fremium model) but the fresh take TabOS is taking is one of the most interesting things I’ve seen in a long time:
#6 Recall adds AI summaries to your web clippings and even videos.
#7 Fabric wants to be your second brain. It includes a webclipper, it uses AI to auto-detect elements and it sends reminders so you’ll actually read and watch what you saved for later, presenting your clippings in a view-friendly way:
#8 Cubox lets you highligh texts, simply save excerpts or even take screen recordings and screenshots for your clippings. I’m already sold by the idea of saving all of a text piece’s link with one click. Nice, versatile service, not free though:
#9 MyMind, finally, has a very nice design, arranges your clippings in a Pinterest style and uses AI to let you search through your content. It’s not free though and for some reason there are a couple of browser extensions but no Firefox:
There is a couple other Pocket alternatives that didn’t really fit my needs but might be suitable for you, such as Pinalist, Inoreader, Bookmarkish or even Instapaper, which surprisingly is still around.
All in all, you’ll find that there are quite a lot of replacements for Pocket, many of them even more capable.
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Today more than ever: If you know an even better tool than the ones I’ve positioned here, please write to me at cools@toolness.co. If you like Toolness, please spread the word and subscribe – if you haven’t already. And as always: Thank you for reading and watching! :) J.