Replace / Readwise
Best free Readwise alternatives (open source, self-hosted) 2026
The best open-source alternative to Readwise is Wallabag (or Karakeep) with Readeck, self-hosted on Railway. Read-it-later you host. Wallabag is MIT; Karakeep is AGPL-3.0; Readeck is AGPL-3.0 — Pocket, Instapaper, and Readwise without the article in someone else's building.
Estimated save $1,200 a year.
Open the stackStart on Railway
How Readwise compares
| Readwise | Wallabag / Karakeep / Readeck | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Hosted subscription | Open-source or fair-code license; you pay the host |
| Hosting | Vendor cloud | Self-hosted on Railway or any VPS |
| Rough monthly cost | Public list price not verified this run | Hosting only — no SaaS seat meter in this repo |
- Wallabag
MIT self-hosted read-it-later
- Karakeep
AGPL-3.0 bookmark-everything with AI tags (Readwise-shaped)
- Readeck
AGPL-3.0 small read-it-later (codeberg.org/readeck/readeck)
FAQ
- What is the best free open-source Readwise alternative?
- The best open-source alternative to Readwise is Wallabag (or Karakeep) with Readeck, self-hosted on Railway. Read-it-later you host. Wallabag is MIT; Karakeep is AGPL-3.0; Readeck is AGPL-3.0 — Pocket, Instapaper, and Readwise without the article in someone else's building.
- Is it free?
- The Wallabag / Karakeep / Readeck licenses are open source or fair-code. You still pay hosting (Railway or any VPS) and any APIs the stack calls. There is no Readwise seat or task bill on this path.
- Can I migrate from Readwise?
- Yes. Start with the workflows or data you actually use, then cut over. The Wallabag / Karakeep / Readeck stack page has the agent prompt and the cost table; most teams rebuild the slice that matters and leave old Readwise links until they expire.
- How do I deploy it?
- Open the Wallabag / Karakeep / Readeck stack, copy the agent prompt, and deploy on Railway (one service, PORT, and a volume when the app needs disk). Placeholder: Wallabag + a database, or Karakeep (compose), or Readeck. A volume for archives. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. Raindrop-shaped bookmarks stay on /stacks/linkwarden-bookmarks.
- What does this replace?
- Pocket / Instapaper / Readwise. The published small-team estimate on this stack is $1,200 a year.
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