Linkding vs Shaarli
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted bookmarks & read-it-later options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Linkding
Minimal and fast self-hosted bookmark manager
VS
Shaarli
Personal, minimalist link-sharing bookmark app
| Feature | Linkding | Shaarli |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,224 | ★ 3,899 |
| First released | 2019 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Pocket, Delicious |
What are Linkding and Shaarli?
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
Shaarli
Shaarli is a personal, minimalist, database-free bookmarking application that can also act as a microblog of links. It targets individuals wanting a lightweight link log. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- No database, flat-file storage
- Public and private links
- Tagging and RSS feed
- Plugin support
Linkding vs Shaarli: key differences
Linkding is written in Python, while Shaarli is built with PHP. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Linkding versus GPL-3.0 for Shaarli. Shaarli is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Linkding. Shaarli is the more established project (first released 2013), while Linkding arrived in 2019. Linkding has the considerably larger community, at 11,224 GitHub stars versus 3,899.
Why pick each one
Choose Linkding if…
- Fast and minimal
- Easy to deploy
- Good extension
Watch out for
- Plain interface
- No automatic archiving
Choose Shaarli if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Easy to back up
- Can be public or private
Watch out for
- Dated default theme
- Single-user only
Frequently asked questions
Is Linkding or Shaarli better?
Neither is universally better. Linkding has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Linkding and Shaarli free and open-source?
Yes. Linkding is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Shaarli under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Linkding and Shaarli with Docker?
Linkding: yes. Shaarli: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Linkding or Shaarli?
Shaarli has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Linkding. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.