Linkwarden 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.
Linkwarden
Collaborative bookmark manager with page archiving
VS
Shaarli
Personal, minimalist link-sharing bookmark app
| Feature | Linkwarden | Shaarli |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,833 | ★ 3,899 |
| First released | 2022 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Pocket, Delicious |
What are Linkwarden and Shaarli?
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
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
Linkwarden vs Shaarli: key differences
Linkwarden is written in TypeScript, while Shaarli is built with PHP. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Linkwarden versus GPL-3.0 for Shaarli. Shaarli is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Linkwarden. Shaarli is the more established project (first released 2013), while Linkwarden arrived in 2022. Linkwarden has the considerably larger community, at 19,833 GitHub stars versus 3,899.
Why pick each one
Choose Linkwarden if…
- Preserves pages permanently
- Good collaboration
- Modern UI
Watch out for
- Requires Postgres
- Archiving uses more storage
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 Linkwarden or Shaarli better?
Neither is universally better. Linkwarden has the larger community, while Shaarli is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Linkwarden and Shaarli free and open-source?
Yes. Linkwarden is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Shaarli under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Linkwarden and Shaarli with Docker?
Linkwarden: yes. Shaarli: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Linkwarden or Shaarli?
Shaarli has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Linkwarden. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.