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.
Not the right match-up?
Promnesia
Browser extension that turns your history into a memory aid
VS
Servas
Self-hosted bookmark and note management tool
| Feature | Promnesia | Servas |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 1,889 | ★ 826 |
| First released | 2019 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Raindrop.io, Pinboard |
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.