Archivy vs Linkwarden
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted bookmarks & read-it-later options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Linkwarden
Collaborative bookmark manager with page archiving
| Feature | Archivy | Linkwarden |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 19 · At risk | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,277 | ★ 19,825 |
| First released | 2020 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Evernote | Pocket, Raindrop.io |
What are Archivy and Linkwarden?
Archivy
Archivy is a self-hostable knowledge repository that lets you preserve useful web pages and notes so they are accessible and searchable offline. Saved bookmarks have their full content archived and indexed for full-text search.
- Full content archiving
- Offline searchable
- Markdown notes
- Extensible plugins
Linkwarden
Linkwarden is a collaborative bookmark manager that saves links and automatically archives full webpage snapshots. It targets individuals and teams who want preserved, organized bookmarks. It is deployed via Docker.
- Automatic webpage archiving
- Collections and collaboration
- Full-text search
- Browser extension
Archivy vs Linkwarden: key differences
Archivy is written in Python, while Linkwarden is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Archivy versus AGPL-3.0 for Linkwarden. Archivy is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Linkwarden. Archivy is the more established project (first released 2020), while Linkwarden arrived in 2022. Linkwarden has the considerably larger community, at 19,825 GitHub stars versus 3,277.
Why pick each one
Choose Archivy if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose Linkwarden if…
- Preserves pages permanently
- Good collaboration
- Modern UI
Watch out for
- Requires Postgres
- Archiving uses more storage
Frequently asked questions
Is Archivy or Linkwarden better?
Neither is universally better. Linkwarden has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Archivy and Linkwarden free and open-source?
Yes. Archivy is licensed under MIT and Linkwarden under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Archivy and Linkwarden with Docker?
Archivy: yes. Linkwarden: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Archivy or Linkwarden?
Archivy has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Linkwarden. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.