Linkding vs Promnesia
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted bookmarks & read-it-later options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Linkding | Promnesia |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,224 | ★ 1,900 |
| First released | 2019 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Pocket, Raindrop.io |
What are Linkding and Promnesia?
Linkding
Linkding is a minimal, fast self-hosted bookmark manager with tagging, full-text search, and a browser extension. It targets users who want a simple, no-frills bookmarking tool. It is deployed via Docker.
- Tag-based bookmark organization
- Full-text search
- Browser extension
- REST API
Promnesia
Promnesia is a browser extension and backend that helps you remember which pages you have visited and how. It connects your browsing history with bookmarks, notes, and other tools.
- Annotates pages you have visited
- Connects history with notes
- Local data ownership
Linkding vs Promnesia: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Linkding versus MIT for Promnesia. Linkding has the considerably larger community, at 11,224 GitHub stars versus 1,900. Linkding lists first-class Docker deployment; Promnesia does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Linkding if…
- Fast and minimal
- Easy to deploy
- Good extension
Watch out for
- Plain interface
- No automatic archiving
Choose Promnesia if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Linkding or Promnesia better?
Linkding is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Promnesia if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Linkding and Promnesia free and open-source?
Yes. Linkding is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Promnesia under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Linkding and Promnesia with Docker?
Linkding: yes. Promnesia: check the project docs for container support.