Karakeep

Overview

Karakeep is a bookmark archive for people who want to save links, notes, and images and retrieve them in more ways than a basic bookmark list allows. It suits researchers, avid readers, and teams building shared collections; its standout advantage is broad search paired with self-hosting, while its free cloud tier is tightly capped.

Automatic AI tagging, web archiving, and duplicate detection help turn saved items into a maintained library rather than a pile of URLs. The free cloud plan’s 10-bookmark and 20MB limits make it better for trying the service than for keeping a substantial archive. Browse more tools in Bookmark Managers.

Key features

Search and reading

Full-text, keyword, hybrid, and semantic search offer several routes into a growing collection, and OCR extends discovery to text embedded in images and screenshots. That breadth is especially useful when the item you remember is a phrase or image rather than a title. Saved articles have a distraction-free reader, text highlighting, and offline reading in the mobile apps, so Karakeep can also serve as a reading queue.

Organization and sharing

Rules can tag or organize bookmarks, while RSS subscriptions bring feeds into the workflow and published lists can be shared as RSS feeds. Shared lists support invited editors or viewers, a practical distinction for collaborative collections where some participants should contribute and others only browse.

AI access and integrations

Agentic skills, a first-party MCP server, CLI, and API with scoped permissions and markdown content give AI tools and technical workflows routes to saved material. Community integrations for Raycast and Obsidian, plus installable skills for AI assistants, broaden those options, though they are not a substitute for native platform coverage.

Privacy and control

Karakeep is open source and supports Docker self-hosting. Its self-hosted data stays on the user’s infrastructure and is not collected or accessed by Karakeep; the trade-off is community rather than priority support on the free self-hosted plan. For cloud users, primary data is stored in Europe and personal data is not sold. The privacy policy also cites encryption in transit, access controls, and regular security reviews.

Pricing

The Free cloud plan costs nothing and includes 10 bookmarks, 20MB of storage, mobile and web apps, and browser extensions. It is a low-commitment way to try the core workflow, but the small quota rules it out as a long-term home for most growing collections.

Self-Hosted costs nothing, billed Free forever, and includes unlimited bookmarks and storage with complete data control and community support. It is the strongest fit for users comfortable running Docker who value control and capacity over managed service and priority help.

Pro costs $4 a month, or $40/year with a stated 17% saving. It raises capacity to 50,000 bookmarks and 50GB and adds AI-powered tagging, alongside full-text search, mobile and web apps, and browser extensions. This is the sensible cloud choice for an individual whose archive exceeds the free caps; it remains finite in both bookmarks and storage.

Karakeep for your team has custom pricing per seat. It includes everything in Pro plus custom deployment and domain, SSO, user management, and priority support, making it the relevant tier for organizations that need centralized access controls and service support. Paid plans have a 7-day money-back guarantee, and cloud data remains available for 30 days after cancellation for export.

Platforms

Karakeep is available on Android, iOS, macOS, and the web, with browser extensions and an API. Self-hosting is also supported. Offline reading is specifically available in the mobile apps, making them useful when connectivity is limited; the broad access options suit users who move between devices.

Who it's for

Karakeep is a strong match for people with large, mixed-format reference collections who want OCR, semantic search, and reading tools in one archive. It also suits technical users who prefer self-hosting or want to connect saved content to AI workflows. It is less compelling for anyone who needs a roomy free cloud plan, or who wants a simple bookmark list without the added search and automation capabilities.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Search spans full text, keywords, semantic methods, and OCR, making image-heavy or hard-to-recall archives easier to query.
• Pro: Free self-hosting offers unlimited bookmarks and storage, with data remaining on the user’s infrastructure.
• Pro: Rules, RSS, shared-list roles, and AI access options support workflows beyond personal saving.
• Con: The free cloud tier stops at 10 bookmarks and 20MB, too little for most ongoing archives.
• Con: Pro remains capped at 50,000 bookmarks and 50GB, and teams must use custom per-seat pricing.
• Con: Free self-hosting comes with community support, so users who need priority assistance must look to the team plan.

Alternatives

Raindrop.io is worth choosing if a larger free cloud collection matters more than Karakeep’s self-hosting option: its free plan allows unlimited bookmarks, collections, highlights, and devices, with 100 MB of file uploads per month.

Diigo may fit readers focused on notes and annotations, with a free allowance of 1,000 bookmarks or notes and 200 highlights; that tier excludes PDF annotation and limits screenshots and images to 50.

LinkAce is an alternative for users who want an open-source, self-hosted bookmark archive, including a free self-hosted plan.

Start.me is another freemium option, with a free tier limited to three start pages, basic widgets, and advertising.

Shiori is a free, MIT-licensed self-hosted option distributed as a single binary.

Linkwarden is a paid alternative with a free trial and an AGPLv3 open-source project.

Delinqs offers a free plan for up to three users with unlimited bookmarks and all features, making it a consideration for small groups.

Bookmark OS has a free plan with unlimited bookmarks, 30 screenshot icons per month, and 500MB of uploads, for users prioritizing those allowances.

Verdict

Choose Karakeep if you want a searchable personal archive with strong retrieval tools and either a capable cloud tier or full control through self-hosting. Its best reason to choose it is the combination of OCR, varied search, reading tools, and flexible data ownership. Look elsewhere if you need generous free cloud storage without self-hosting, or if you prefer a simpler service with fewer operational choices.