Beyond Pocket: The Best Read-It-Later Apps and Self-Hosted Alternatives

The shutdown of a beloved service like Pocket often triggers a search for the next best thing. This has led to a rich exchange of ideas, revealing a diverse ecosystem of tools and philosophies for saving and consuming online content. The alternatives discussed generally fall into a few key camps, each catering to different priorities.

Polished Hosted Services

For users who want a ready-to-use, polished experience, several managed services stand out as direct replacements.

Readwise Reader: Frequently recommended for "power users," it's praised for its extensive feature set, seamless syncing, quality text-to-speech, and thoughtful support for e-ink devices like Boox tablets.
Instapaper: A long-standing and respected competitor, Instapaper is valued for its simplicity, clean reading interface, and killer features like Kindle integration and IFTTT support for building custom workflows.
Raindrop.io: While more of a bookmark manager than a pure "read-it-later" app, many find its powerful organization, tagging, and permanent copy features more than sufficient. Its generous free tier is a major plus.

Self-Hosted: Taking Control of Your Data

A significant portion of users, wary of services being acquired or shut down, strongly advocate for self-hosting. This approach guarantees data ownership and service longevity.

Wallabag: The most frequently mentioned self-hosted option. It's open-source, can be self-hosted or used via a paid hosting service, and offers crucial features like Pocket import and ePub export. It's a favorite among Kobo users when paired with the KOReader software.
Readeck: A newer player that's winning fans for its clean UI and excellent article extraction. One user created a custom proxy to make Readeck compatible with a Kobo e-reader's built-in Pocket sync, a clever solution for a common pain point.
Karakeep & Shiori: Other notable self-hosted tools include Karakeep, which offers impressive AI-powered auto-tagging (if you have a local LLM), and Shiori, a lightweight option written in Go with flexible database support.

The DIY & Minimalist Approach

Some argue that the core problem is not the tool, but the habit of saving articles that are never read. This has led to simpler, more integrated solutions.

Note-Taking Apps: Using web clippers for tools like Obsidian or Notion turns articles into local, editable markdown files within an existing knowledge base.
Browser-Native Tools: Relying on the browser's built-in Reader Mode, Safari's Reading List, or simply a dedicated bookmarks folder is the most straightforward method.
Local Files: The SingleFile browser extension or the "Print to PDF" function allows users to save a perfect, offline copy of a page, which can then be organized in a simple folder structure.

The Next Generation of Tools

The discussion also highlighted new applications being built by independent developers, often directly engaging with potential users. The most prominent example was Folio, created by Pocket's former head of product. He shared that the app offers a clean reading view, high-quality text-to-speech, and full offline access. Community members responded with valuable feedback, requesting UI previews and the return of a beloved, finite recommendation feature from Pocket's past, which the founder confirmed is on the roadmap.