Promnesia vs Shiori
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 | Shiori |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 81 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,900 | ★ 11,650 |
| First released | 2019 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Pocket, Raindrop.io |
What are Promnesia and Shiori?
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
Shiori
Shiori is a simple bookmark manager that lets you save and organize web pages with offline archiving. It is distributed as a single portable binary with both a web UI and a CLI.
- Single portable binary
- Offline page archiving
- Web UI and CLI
Promnesia vs Shiori: key differences
Promnesia is written in Python, while Shiori is built with Go. Shiori is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Promnesia. Shiori is the more established project (first released 2017), while Promnesia arrived in 2019. Shiori has the considerably larger community, at 11,650 GitHub stars versus 1,900. Shiori 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 Shiori if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 11.7k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Promnesia or Shiori better?
Shiori is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Promnesia if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Promnesia and Shiori free and open-source?
Yes. Promnesia is licensed under MIT and Shiori under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Promnesia and Shiori with Docker?
Promnesia: check the project docs for container support. Shiori: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Promnesia or Shiori?
Shiori has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Promnesia. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.