After 17 years of operation, Pocket, the popular read-it-later service, is set to shut down on July 8, 2025. Users will need to transfer their data to another reading or bookmarking platform. Fortunately, there are several alternatives available. Here are five top options to consider.
### Instapaper
Instapaper has established itself as one of the leading read-it-later applications, having been in the market for over a decade. It is compatible with various platforms, including the web, iOS, Android, and macOS. Users can save unlimited articles, web pages, and videos for future consumption. Furthermore, Instapaper allows users to organize their saved content into folders for easier accessibility.
The app offers synchronization across devices, meaning you can access your saved items even without an internet connection. One notable premium feature is permanent archiving, ensuring that your saved articles remain accessible even if the original source becomes unavailable. Additionally, users can directly send articles to their Kindle devices if they prefer reading in that format.
In terms of engagement, Instapaper allows users to highlight text and add notes, though the free plan limits this to five notes per month. The application also supports integrations, enabling users to automate their reading experience by saving articles directly from social media or RSS feeds. The basic version of Instapaper is free, but a subscription to Instapaper Premium costs $5.99 per month or $59.99 annually, unlocking advanced features such as full-text search and permanent archiving. For those who appreciated Pocket’s straightforward design, Instapaper offers a similar user-friendly experience.
### Raindrop.io
Raindrop.io serves as a comprehensive bookmark manager that allows users to store and organize various types of content, including web links, images, videos, and documents. This application is accessible on all major devices, including both web and mobile platforms.
Compared to many similar services, Raindrop.io offers a generous free plan that permits unlimited item saving. Users can utilize tags or categorize saved content into collections and highlight or annotate pages for more effective revisiting later. Additionally, it supports direct file uploads from your device and integrates with popular applications to facilitate easy saving.
For users wanting a richer feature set, Raindrop.io offers a Pro plan priced at $3.54 monthly or $33.04 yearly. This plan provides AI-driven suggestions, an increased file upload capacity, and more sophisticated organizational tools. However, it’s worth noting that Raindrop.io does not support offline reading, which might be a critical limitation for users accustomed to accessing saved content without an internet connection.
### Matter
Matter is a modern read-it-later application exclusively available for iOS, iPadOS, and the web. It allows users to save various content types, including PDFs and videos, as well as synchronize newsletter subscriptions and follow favored writers to receive updates on their latest work.
All content saved through Matter is synchronized across devices and accessible offline. Users can organize their saved items using tags for streamlined retrieval and highlight important parts of articles, which can be reviewed later.
For those who utilize knowledge management tools like Obsidian or Notion, Matter can facilitate synchronization to store highlights. The app also features AI-generated summaries and a text-to-speech option for listening to articles. Although Matter is tailored for Apple users pursuing a premium reading experience, many of its features require a Matter Premium subscription priced at $14.99 per month or $79.99 annually.
### Readwise Reader
Readwise Reader offers a plethora of features aimed at power users. It is available on numerous mobile and desktop platforms, allowing users to save diverse content types, such as articles, newsletters, PDFs, EPUBs, RSS feeds, and even YouTube videos complete with transcripts.
The application allows users to highlight critical content and add notes. Additionally, it offers daily reviews via email or in-app notifications to aid memory retention. Highlights can be automatically saved to personal knowledge management applications like Obsidian, Notion, or Logseq.
Readwise Reader includes several AI functionalities, such as Ghostreader, which helps users define terms and summarize passages, and an AI chat feature for inquiries about highlights. Overall, Readwise Reader stands out for those seeking an extensive range of content storage options combined with advanced reading and annotation functionalities. A paid subscription is required for most features, with a 30-day free trial available. The premium plan retails for $12.99 per month or $9.99 per month for annual billing.
### Recall
Recall distinguishes itself from traditional bookmarking apps by functionally serving as an AI-driven knowledge management tool. Currently, it is available on Android, iOS, and the web. Users can save various content types, including articles, PDFs, podcasts, and YouTube videos with transcripts.
After saving content, users can generate AI summaries and interact with a built-in chatbot for queries related to the content. The application also allows for highlighting, note-taking, and saving important information to a dedicated Recall Notebook.
A key feature of Recall is its automatic tagging and organization of saved items, enhancing searchability. Additionally, it employs a graph database to establish connections between related content, enabling a visual representation of saved data. While Recall may be perceived as feature-rich compared to Pocket, users seeking a sophisticated approach to saving content will find it an exceptional option. However, it presently lacks bulk import functionality for transferring bookmarks from Pocket but does support importing browser bookmarks.
Most of Recall’s features are free to use, with some limitations on AI summaries and chats. To access the full suite of AI features, users can upgrade to Recall Plus for $7 per month when billed annually.
