Raindrop is an active, well-polished bookmark manager; Pocket was a classic read-later app that Mozilla shut down in July 2025. For anyone picking between them today, there isn't really a choice left. This comparison is mostly useful for Pocket refugees deciding whether Raindrop fits their workflow.
Raindrop wins by default since Pocket no longer exists. If you used Pocket as a straightforward read-later queue, Raindrop is well-suited but it's not a reading app first; expect a bookmark-manager feel rather than a quiet reader. If reading is the core job, Matter or Readwise Reader are better matches.
You can also try Keep for free as an alternative to Raindrop and Pocket.
All-in-one bookmark manager with collections, tags, and a polished UI across every platform.
Free, paid from $3/mo
Save articles, videos, and stories from any publication.
Free, paid from $4.99/mo
Raindrop covers more territory than Pocket ever did: nested collections, file uploads, highlights on the free tier, and an MCP server for AI tools. Here's how they line up on every feature.
| Feature | Raindrop | |
|---|---|---|
| Capture and save | ||
| Browser extension | Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge | |
| Mobile apps | iOS, Android | iOS, Android |
| Save from email | Send-to-Pocket address | |
| Save tweets | Partial | |
| Save YouTube videos | Partial | URL only |
| Save GitHub stars | ||
| Save PDFs | Full-text search Pro only | |
| Save files (docs, spreadsheets) | PDF, EPUB, images, video | |
| Save audio files | mp3, wav, aiff, flac | |
| Save via API | ||
| Auto-sync sources | ||
| RSS auto-sync | Via IFTTT applet | |
| YouTube channel sync | ||
| X bookmarks sync | ||
| GitHub stars sync | ||
| Newsletter inbox sync | ||
| Library and reading | ||
| Reader view | ||
| Offline reading | ||
| Full-text search | Pro | Premium |
| Semantic / AI search | Pro (Stella) | |
| Highlights | Premium | |
| Notes | Partial | |
| Tags | ||
| Collections | Nested | |
| Public sharing | Partial | |
| Full-text RSS extraction | ||
| AI and agents | ||
| Markdown export for AI agents | ||
| Bulk markdown export | ||
| MCP server | Official server | |
| CLI tool | ||
| Claude Code skill | ||
| AI summaries | Pro (Stella) | |
| Public API | ||
| Import and export | ||
| OPML import / export | ||
| Pocket import | ||
| Instapaper import | ||
| CSV / JSON export | HTML, CSV, TXT only | |
| Send to Kindle |
Raindrop is free for unlimited bookmarks with a generous free tier, and Pro is $3/mo ($28/yr). Pocket's Premium was $4.99/mo, but that's moot now. Keep is free for 50 items lifetime, then $10/mo for Pro.
Free
Unlimited bookmarks, collections, tags, sync devices. 100 MB/month uploads.
Pro
Full-text search, permanent web archive, 10 GB/month uploads, Stella AI assistant, annotations on highlights.
Free
Save unlimited items, basic offline reading.
Premium
Permanent library, full-text search, unlimited highlights, suggested tags, premium fonts, ad-free.
Raindrop's strengths are its organisation polish and free-tier generosity. Pocket's were simplicity and distribution (it came with Firefox). Neither was built as an agent-ready library.
You want a polished place to store a large library of links with tags, nested collections, and public shareable folders. You're fine using Raindrop's reader view as a secondary feature rather than the main one.
Pocket has shut down and is no longer available. Any of the active alternatives is a safer bet.
Raindrop is a bookmark manager with polished apps on every major platform, a generous free tier with unlimited bookmarks, and a surprisingly thorough AI layer for Pro users. Pro is $3/mo ($28/yr) and unlocks full-text search across saved pages and PDFs, the Stella AI assistant, a permanent web archive, reminders, and annotations on highlights. Highlights themselves are free on every tier. The product quietly got ambitious on AI in 2025. There's an official MCP server at /rest/v2/ai/mcp that works with Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, VS Code with Copilot, Windsurf, and Zed, plus an open REST API with OAuth and token auth.
Pocket launched in 2007 as Read It Later, pioneered the modern read-later category, and was acquired by Mozilla in 2017. For nearly two decades it was the default way to save web articles and read them later on any device, with a clean reader view and optional offline access. Mozilla shut Pocket down on July 8, 2025. All user data was permanently deleted on November 12, 2025. The apps and extensions no longer work, and any integrations built against the Pocket API have stopped. If you still have an export file from before that date, most modern alternatives (Instapaper, Readwise Reader, Raindrop, Matter, Keep) can import it.
Yes. Mozilla shut down Pocket on July 8, 2025 and deleted all user data on November 12, 2025. Existing apps and extensions should be uninstalled. If you still have your export file from before that date, most alternatives can import it.
Mostly yes. Raindrop's free tier is unlimited bookmarks, unlimited collections, unlimited tags, and includes highlights. Pocket Premium's full-text search equivalent on Raindrop requires Pro ($3/mo).
Yes. Raindrop accepts HTML exports from Pocket directly. Import is under Settings → Import.
Not really. Raindrop has a reader view but it's secondary to its bookmark manager core. If clean, distraction-free reading is what drew you to Pocket, Instapaper or Matter are closer matches.
Yes on Pro. The permanent web archive feature stores a copy of every page you save. On the free tier, Raindrop stores the bookmark and metadata but not the full page body.
Raindrop Pro is $3/month, the cheapest paid tier in the category. Pocket Premium was $4.99/month. Raindrop's free tier is also more usable than Pocket's free tier ever was.
Yes, on iOS and Android, plus desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. More platform reach than Pocket ever had.
Yes, this is where it shines. Nested collections, unlimited tags, smart filters, collaboration on collections, and a polished UI across every device. If you save a lot, Raindrop handles it better than Pocket did.
Yes, on Pro. The Stella AI assistant does semantic search, summaries, and organizational suggestions. There's also an official MCP server that works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other AI tools.
Raindrop's highlights are free on every tier and work on web pages, PDFs, and EPUBs. Annotations on highlights (adding notes) require Pro. Pocket's highlights required Premium.