Promnesia vs Servas
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 | Promnesia | Servas |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 66 · Good |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Svelte |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,900 | ★ 831 |
| First released | 2019 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Raindrop.io, Pinboard |
What are Promnesia and Servas?
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
Servas
Servas is a self-hosted application for managing bookmarks alongside notes and tags. Built with Laravel and Livewire, it lets you group links and attach contextual notes for personal knowledge management.
- Bookmarks with attached notes
- Tag and group organization
- Built with Laravel and Livewire
- Self-hosted single instance
Promnesia vs Servas: key differences
Promnesia is written in Python, while Servas is built with Svelte. Licensing differs — MIT for Promnesia versus AGPL-3.0 for Servas. Promnesia is the more established project (first released 2019), while Servas arrived in 2022. Promnesia has the considerably larger community, at 1,900 GitHub stars versus 831. Servas lists first-class Docker deployment; Promnesia does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Promnesia if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Servas if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Svelte
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Promnesia or Servas better?
Neither is universally better. Promnesia has the larger community, while Servas is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Promnesia and Servas free and open-source?
Yes. Promnesia is licensed under MIT and Servas under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Promnesia and Servas with Docker?
Promnesia: check the project docs for container support. Servas: yes.