Promnesia 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.
Omnivore
Read-it-later app with highlights and newsletter support
| Feature | Promnesia | Omnivore |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,900 | ★ 16,257 |
| First released | 2019 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Pocket, Instapaper |
What are Promnesia and Omnivore?
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
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
Promnesia vs Omnivore: key differences
Promnesia is written in Python, while Omnivore is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Promnesia versus AGPL-3.0 for Omnivore. Promnesia is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Omnivore. Promnesia is the more established project (first released 2019), while Omnivore arrived in 2022. Omnivore has the considerably larger community, at 16,257 GitHub stars versus 1,900. Omnivore 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 Omnivore if…
- Newsletter inbox support
- Highlights and notes
- Full-text search
Watch out for
- Complex microservice deployment
- Development has stalled
Frequently asked questions
Is Promnesia or Omnivore better?
Neither is universally better. Omnivore has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Promnesia and Omnivore free and open-source?
Yes. Promnesia is licensed under MIT and Omnivore under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Promnesia and Omnivore with Docker?
Promnesia: check the project docs for container support. Omnivore: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Promnesia or Omnivore?
Promnesia 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.