Promnesia 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.
Wallabag
Self-hosted read-it-later application
| Feature | Promnesia | Wallabag |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,900 | ★ 12,983 |
| First released | 2019 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Raindrop.io | Pocket, Instapaper |
What are Promnesia and Wallabag?
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
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
Promnesia vs Wallabag: key differences
Promnesia is written in Python, while Wallabag is built with PHP. Promnesia 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 Promnesia arrived in 2019. Wallabag has the considerably larger community, at 12,983 GitHub stars versus 1,900. Wallabag 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 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 Promnesia or Wallabag better?
Wallabag is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Promnesia if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Promnesia and Wallabag free and open-source?
Yes. Promnesia is licensed under MIT and Wallabag under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Promnesia and Wallabag with Docker?
Promnesia: check the project docs for container support. Wallabag: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Promnesia or Wallabag?
Promnesia 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.