omnom vs Wallabag
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
Wallabag
Self-hosted read-it-later application
| Feature | omnom | Wallabag |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 70 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 665 | ★ 12,983 |
| First released | 2020 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Pocket, Instapaper |
What are omnom and Wallabag?
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
Wallabag
Wallabag is a self-hosted read-it-later application that saves web articles in a clean, distraction-free format for later reading. It targets readers who want to own their reading list. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Clean article extraction
- Tagging and annotations
- Mobile apps and extensions
- Export to ePub and PDF
omnom vs Wallabag: key differences
Omnom is written in Go, while Wallabag is built with PHP. Omnom is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Wallabag. Wallabag is the more established project (first released 2013), while omnom arrived in 2020. Wallabag has the considerably larger community, at 12,983 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 Wallabag if…
- Great read-it-later experience
- Own your reading list
- Apps available
Watch out for
- Requires a database
- Article parsing occasionally fails
Frequently asked questions
Is omnom or Wallabag better?
Neither is universally better. Wallabag has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are omnom and Wallabag free and open-source?
Yes. omnom is licensed under MIT and Wallabag under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run omnom and Wallabag with Docker?
omnom: yes. Wallabag: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, omnom or Wallabag?
omnom has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Wallabag. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.