Archivy vs Omnivore
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted bookmarks & read-it-later options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Omnivore
Read-it-later app with highlights and newsletter support
| Feature | Archivy | Omnivore |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 19 · At risk | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,277 | ★ 16,257 |
| First released | 2020 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Evernote | Pocket, Instapaper |
What are Archivy and Omnivore?
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
Omnivore
Omnivore is an open-source read-it-later application that saves articles for distraction-free reading. It supports highlights, notes, full-text search, and forwarding newsletters to your library.
- Distraction-free reading
- Highlights and notes
- Newsletter inbox support
Archivy vs Omnivore: key differences
Archivy is written in Python, while Omnivore is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Archivy versus AGPL-3.0 for Omnivore. Archivy is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Omnivore. Archivy is the more established project (first released 2020), while Omnivore arrived in 2022. Omnivore has the considerably larger community, at 16,257 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 Omnivore if…
- Newsletter inbox support
- Highlights and notes
- Full-text search
Watch out for
- Complex microservice deployment
- Development has stalled
Frequently asked questions
Is Archivy or Omnivore better?
Neither is universally better. Omnivore has the larger community, while Archivy is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Archivy and Omnivore free and open-source?
Yes. Archivy is licensed under MIT and Omnivore under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Archivy and Omnivore with Docker?
Archivy: yes. Omnivore: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Archivy or Omnivore?
Archivy has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Omnivore. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.