Pocket alternatives: where to go now that Pocket is gone

Pocket, Mozilla's read-it-later app, is gone. If you are here because a save button stopped working, or you just noticed the app missing from your phone, this page covers what happened, what you can still do with your saved articles, and which apps are worth moving to.

What happened to Pocket

Mozilla announced in May 2025 that it was phasing out Pocket, describing it as its "read-it-later and content discovery app." The timeline:

• May 22, 2025: Pocket could no longer be downloaded, and new Pocket Premium subscriptions stopped.
• July 8, 2025: Pocket shut down. Premium subscriptions were cancelled automatically, and annual subscribers were refunded.
• October 8, 2025: Mozilla's announced last day to export your saves, after which data would be permanently deleted. The Pocket API also stopped reading or writing data from that date.
• Mozilla later kept the web export page open a little longer, into November 2025.

That window has now closed. If you did not export your Pocket saves, Mozilla's stated plan was to permanently delete them, and there is no official way to get them back.

If you did export: your file and where it can go

Pocket's export came as a ZIP file, usually named pocket.zip, with your saves inside as a CSV file. Keep the original ZIP somewhere safe, even after you import it. It is the only copy of your list.

Several apps can take it in:

• Readwise Reader: upload the original pocket.zip on the Integrations page of your Reader account. Readwise warns that Safari sometimes unzips downloads automatically, and uploading the unzipped or re-zipped file can cause a partial or failed import, so use the original ZIP.
• Instapaper: import your Pocket export file from Instapaper's settings. Tags from Pocket come across as Instapaper tags.
• Raindrop.io: lists Pocket among the apps it can import from, under Settings, Import.
• wallabag: lists Pocket among its import sources.

One caution: some import tools were built to pull from Pocket's API, which stopped working in October 2025. If an app asks you to "connect your Pocket account," that route no longer works. Look for its file upload option instead.

The best Pocket alternatives

There is no single drop-in replacement, because Pocket did several jobs at once: a save button, a clean reading view, an offline library and, for many people, a way to read on a Kobo e-reader. Here is how the main options compare on those jobs.

Instapaper

The closest in spirit to Pocket, and the oldest name in the category. The free plan lets you save unlimited articles, sync across web, iOS and Android, and organize with folders. Instapaper Premium, a paid plan, adds full-text search, a permanent archive, a PDF reader, unlimited notes, Kindle sending, text-to-speech playlists and speed reading.

Good fit if: you want a straightforward Pocket replacement, or you read on a Kobo. Rakuten Kobo replaced its Pocket integration with Instapaper in August 2025, and your saved articles sync to the Kobo under More, My Articles.

Readwise Reader

A reading app for heavy readers that handles articles, PDFs, EPUBs, newsletters, RSS feeds, YouTube videos and X threads in one place, with strong highlighting and note-taking. It runs on the web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and some e-ink tablets, and highlights can sync to apps like Obsidian and Notion. It is paid after a free trial.

Good fit if: you highlight a lot and want your notes to end up somewhere useful.

Matter

A polished reading app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. The free version has an uncapped read-later library, full-text search and unlimited tags. Premium adds high-quality text-to-speech, newsletter and RSS syncing, unlimited highlights and notes, integrations and Send to Kindle.

Good fit if: you are on Apple devices and like listening to articles.

Raindrop.io

Strictly a bookmark manager rather than a reading app, but a very good one: collections, tags, highlights, previews, and apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and every major browser. The free plan covers unlimited bookmarks, collections and devices. Full-text search and permanent copies of pages are part of the paid Pro plan.

Good fit if: you used Pocket more as an organized pile of links than as a place to read.

GoodLinks

A read-later app for iPhone, iPad and Mac with a clean reader, highlights and notes, tags and Markdown export of highlights. There is no separate account: it syncs through iCloud. It is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription.

Good fit if: you are all-in on Apple and want no account and no subscription.

Safari Reading List and Chrome's reading list

Already built into your browser and free. Safari's Reading List syncs through iCloud across your Apple devices and can save items for offline reading. Chrome's reading list lives under Bookmarks and lists.

Good fit if: you saved a few articles a week and never used Pocket's extras.

wallabag and Karakeep (self-hosted)

Both are open source and can run on your own server. wallabag is a dedicated read-it-later app that strips pages down to the article; there is also a paid hosted version, wallabag.it, with a free trial. Karakeep is a broader "bookmark everything" app for links, notes, images and PDFs, with full-page archives and AI tagging, available self-hosted or as a cloud service.

Good fit if: Pocket's shutdown left you wanting an archive no company can switch off.

Quick comparison

App	Platforms	Free option	Imports a Pocket export	Best for
Instapaper	Web, iOS, Android, Kobo	Yes	Yes	Closest Pocket replacement
Readwise Reader	Web, desktop, iOS, Android	Trial	Yes (pocket.zip)	Highlighting, research
Matter	iPhone, iPad, Mac, web	Yes	Not stated	Listening, Apple users
Raindrop.io	All major platforms	Yes	Listed	Organizing links
GoodLinks	iPhone, iPad, Mac	No (one-time purchase)	Not stated	Apple, no account
Browser reading lists	Safari, Chrome	Yes	No	Light use
wallabag	Self-hosted or hosted	Self-hosted	Listed	Owning your archive

For picks sorted by how you read, see The best read-it-later apps.

A different idea: read your saves on paper

The quiet problem with any read-it-later list is that it keeps growing while the reading doesn't happen. If that sounds familiar, Offprint takes a different approach: instead of an app, you text it a link whenever you find something worth reading, and your saves become a printed magazine mailed to your door, to read on the couch. It does not import Pocket exports, so it is a fresh start rather than a migration; if you want to keep your old library, put it in one of the apps above and use Offprint for what you save from here on. For one saved article on paper today, see How to print an article without ads.