Best read-later and web clipper extensions

Raindrop.io is a bookmark manager that grew a read-later side, and it is the only pick here with a store listing for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. The free plan is generous enough to live on, which makes it the natural default if you are replacing Pocket.

You save a page from the toolbar icon or a shortcut, file it into a collection, add tags and read a cleaned-up version later. Highlights are included free. In Chrome, Edge and Firefox it can open as a sidebar beside the page, and its help page says the Chrome version also works in Opera, Arc, Vivaldi and Brave. Safari uses a separate free Mac app.

The paid plan adds full-text search, a web archive that keeps a copy if a page disappears, reminders, annotations and AI features. If you mostly save links to read within a few weeks, you may never need it. The catch is that it is closed source and run by one developer, Rustem Mussabekov, based in Astana according to the site footer. The help site documents import and export, so check that your data can leave before you commit years of saves.

Obsidian Web Clipper is the official clipper for the Obsidian note-taking app, and the best free choice if you already use Obsidian. It saves plain Markdown files on your own disk, so nothing depends on a vendor staying in business.

A clipped page becomes a Markdown file in your vault, with the title, URL, date and any tags you set. You can highlight text first and save only the highlights. The key feature is templates: rules that choose the folder, name the file, pull the author or published date into properties and trim the page with filters. The Chromium build also has a side panel.

It is built in the open under an MIT licence, and the Chrome listing says the developer collects no data. It does ask for access to every site, which a clipper needs in order to read the page. The limit is the app. A clipped page lands as a file, not in a read and unread queue, so it works better as a research library than as a Pocket replacement. Pair it with a reader if you want a queue.

Readwise Reader is the most powerful reader in this group, aimed at people who read for work. It is a subscription product with a free trial, so it only makes sense if you will use the extras. For casual saving, Raindrop or Instapaper cost less.

Reader pulls in more than web pages: PDFs, EPUBs, email newsletters, RSS feeds and YouTube videos, all in one inbox with a queue you triage. The Chrome and Firefox extension, called Readwise Highlighter, sends a page to your account and lets you highlight the open web, with the highlights showing up in the app. Its own page says it can import a Pocket export and imports directly from Instapaper.

The catch is price and lock-in. After a 30-day trial with no card required you need a paid Readwise plan, and the code is closed. The Chrome listing says the extension handles website content, which it needs to save a page. Readwise says Reader also has Safari support, but we only confirmed the Chrome and Firefox store pages. Choose it if you highlight heavily and want one inbox for everything you read.

Instapaper is the simplest Pocket replacement in this group: save, read, archive. It is one of the oldest read-later services, and the free plan is enough for most people. Judge it by the service rather than the extension, which has not been updated since late 2024.

You save a page, it strips the clutter and you read it in a clean view on the web, iPhone, iPad or Android. The free plan saves unlimited articles, videos and pages and lets you organise them into folders. Premium adds full-text search, a permanent archive that keeps a copy if a page disappears, a PDF reader, unlimited notes, Kindle integration and text-to-speech on mobile. Free accounts are capped at 5 notes a month.

Instapaper is run by Instant Paper, Inc. It was owned by Pinterest for two years and went independent in 2018, according to press coverage of the time, and we found no later change. The extensions work for many people, but they have not been updated since November 2024 and some 2026 Chrome reviews report failed saves. We found no Safari or Edge extension. If the extension matters to you, test it before moving a whole library across.

Karakeep, previously called Hoarder, is the most modern of the self-hosted options. It is an open source bookmark and read-later app that archives pages, searches their full text and tags them with a model you can run locally.

You run it with Docker, point the browser extension at your server and everything you save is stored there. It handles links, notes, images and PDFs, with full-page archiving against link rot, video archiving, highlights and OCR for images. Tagging and summaries can use a language model, and the docs say local models work through Ollama, so your reading list need not go to a third party. Importers cover Pocket, Omnivore, Linkwarden and Chrome bookmarks.

The catch is the server. You must run one, or pay for the hosted service at cloud.karakeep.com, which has a small free tier and a paid Pro plan. The extension is small, with about 30,000 Chrome users, and the Chrome listing says the developer collects no data. Safari is covered by the Karakeep App on the App Store. It is not for casual users, but it suits anyone who wants to own their library.

Wallabagger is the sturdy, unfashionable choice. The extension is plain, but it does one job: it sends pages to wallabag, an established open source read-it-later project that keeps your articles on a server you control.

wallabag extracts the article from a page, stores it in your own archive and lets you read it in a browser, on a phone, in an RSS reader or on an e-reader. From the toolbar icon, a right-click on a link or a keyboard shortcut, Wallabagger lets you edit the title, set tags and mark an entry as starred, archived or deleted before saving. It targets wallabag version 2 servers. Imports cover a Pocket CSV export, Omnivore, Instapaper and Pinboard.

You need a wallabag server: install it yourself, or use the managed service at wallabag.it, which offers a 14-day free trial and then charges a fee. No third-party account is needed, and the Chrome listing says the developer collects no data. The extension is MIT licensed and actively updated, but modest, with 3.4 stars on Chrome and about 10,000 users there. We found no Safari listing. Pick it if you want a proven, self-hosted service.

Hypothesis is the right tool for annotating, not for saving a reading list. It is widely used in classrooms and research. Check the sharing setting before you highlight anything private, because annotations are public by default.

You can highlight and comment on web pages, PDFs and EPUBs. Each note attaches to the exact passage, and you can add tags and replies, so a class or team can annotate the same article together. University library guides say you can choose Only Me or a private group instead of public, and that free accounts can create private groups.

It is made by Annotation Unlimited, PBC, and the browser extension is open source under a BSD licence. The Chrome listing says it handles personally identifiable information. Browser coverage is thin: the README still marks Firefox as in development, and we found only unofficial tools on Firefox Add-ons, so treat it as a Chrome extension. It does not keep a reading queue either, so pair it with a reader or clipper. Choose it if annotation is the job.