Readeck 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.
Readeck
Save and read web content in a personal library
VS
Wallabag
Self-hosted read-it-later application
| Feature | Readeck | Wallabag |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later | Bookmarks & Read-It-Later |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,100 | ★ 12,983 |
| First released | 2023 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Pocket, Instapaper | Pocket, Instapaper |
What are Readeck and Wallabag?
Readeck
Readeck is a self-hosted application that lets you save web articles and pages into a clean, searchable personal reading library. It targets readers who want a simple read-it-later tool. It is deployed via Docker or a binary.
- Clean article reading view
- Highlights and labels
- E-book export
- Lightweight single binary
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
Readeck vs Wallabag: key differences
Readeck is written in Go, while Wallabag is built with PHP. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Readeck versus MIT for Wallabag. Readeck 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 Readeck arrived in 2023. Wallabag has the considerably larger community, at 12,983 GitHub stars versus 1,100.
Why pick each one
Choose Readeck if…
- Simple and lightweight
- Nice reading experience
- Easy to deploy
Watch out for
- Younger project
- Smaller community
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 Readeck or Wallabag better?
Neither is universally better. Wallabag has the larger community, while Readeck is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Readeck and Wallabag free and open-source?
Yes. Readeck is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Wallabag under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Readeck and Wallabag with Docker?
Readeck: yes. Wallabag: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Readeck or Wallabag?
Readeck 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.