omnom 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.
omnom
Bookmarking with full-page snapshot archiving
VS
Omnivore
Read-it-later app with highlights and newsletter support
| Feature | omnom | Omnivore |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 70 · Good | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 665 | ★ 16,257 |
| First released | 2020 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Pocket, Instapaper |
What are omnom and Omnivore?
omnom
omnom is a self-hosted bookmarking service that stores both the link and a full snapshot of the page at the time it was saved. This guarantees access to content even if the original page changes or disappears.
- Full-page snapshots
- Browser extension
- Tagging and search
- Multi-user support
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
omnom vs Omnivore: key differences
Omnom is written in Go, while Omnivore is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for omnom versus AGPL-3.0 for Omnivore. Omnom is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Omnivore. Omnom 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 665.
Why pick each one
Choose omnom if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Snapshots use disk space
- Smaller community
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 omnom or Omnivore better?
Neither is universally better. Omnivore has the larger community, while omnom is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are omnom and Omnivore free and open-source?
Yes. omnom is licensed under MIT and Omnivore under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run omnom and Omnivore with Docker?
omnom: yes. Omnivore: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, omnom or Omnivore?
omnom 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.