Grimoire vs Shiori
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted bookmarks & read-it-later options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Grimoire
Archived
Bookmark manager for your reading list and inspiration
VS
Shiori
Simple bookmark manager built with Go
| Feature | Grimoire | Shiori |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 81 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,856 | ★ 11,650 |
| First released | 2023 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Raindrop.io, Pocket | Pocket, Raindrop.io |
What are Grimoire and Shiori?
Grimoire
Grimoire is a self-hosted bookmarking app for keeping track of links, articles, and inspiration. It organizes bookmarks into categories with tags, notes, and full-text search.
- Category and tag organization
- Notes on bookmarks
- Full-text search
Shiori
Shiori is a simple bookmark manager that lets you save and organize web pages with offline archiving. It is distributed as a single portable binary with both a web UI and a CLI.
- Single portable binary
- Offline page archiving
- Web UI and CLI
Grimoire vs Shiori: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Grimoire's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Shiori is actively maintained. Grimoire is written in TypeScript, while Shiori is built with Go. Shiori is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Grimoire. Shiori is the more established project (first released 2017), while Grimoire arrived in 2023. Shiori has the considerably larger community, at 11,650 GitHub stars versus 2,856.
Why pick each one
Choose Grimoire if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Shiori if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 11.7k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Grimoire or Shiori better?
Shiori is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Grimoire if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Grimoire and Shiori free and open-source?
Yes. Grimoire is licensed under MIT and Shiori under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Grimoire and Shiori with Docker?
Grimoire: yes. Shiori: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Grimoire or Shiori?
Shiori has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Grimoire. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.