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Karakeep vs Pinboard

Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.

Karakeep

Open-source bookmark app that tags saved links, notes and images

Free plan · from $4/mo
Full detailskarakeep.app

Pinboard

Paid bookmarking site with tags, privacy and page archiving

From $22/yr
Full detailspinboard.in

Where they differ

  • Karakeep starts at $4 per month, or $40 per year (Pro, Karakeep Cloud). Pinboard starts at $22 per year.
  • Karakeep has a free plan. Pinboard does not.
  • Only Karakeep lists iOS and Android apps.
  • Karakeep is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
  • Karakeep also covers highlights.
In commonWebBrowser extensionPublic APIRead laterBookmarks

At a glance

KarakeepPinboard
PricingFree planPaid
Starts at$4 per month, or $40 per year (Pro, Karakeep Cloud)$22 per year
Free planKarakeep Cloud's Free plan holds 10 bookmarks and 20 MB of storage. The self-hosted version is free with every feature and no cap on bookmarks or storage.None
Free trialNone listedNone listed
Web
iOS
Android
Browser extension
Made byLocalhost Labs LtdNine Fives Software
Price read fromkarakeep.apppinboard.in
CheckedOct 6, 2026Oct 5, 2026

Who each one suits

Karakeep

  • People who keep links, notes, images and PDFs in one collection
  • Self-hosters who want a bookmark manager with no feature limits
  • Anyone who prefers automatic tagging to filing bookmarks by hand

Pinboard

  • People who want a fast, text-based bookmark archive without ads or trackers
  • Users who keep most or all of their bookmarks private
  • Developers who want an API and RSS feeds for their bookmarks

Worth knowing

Karakeep

  • The free Karakeep Cloud plan stops at 10 bookmarks and 20 MB of storage, so regular hosted use needs Pro at $4 a month.
  • On Karakeep Cloud, AI-powered tagging and full-text search are listed under Pro and not under the Free plan.
  • Pro is capped at 50,000 bookmarks and 50 GB of storage; only the self-hosted version is unlimited.
  • Single sign-on and user management on the hosted service are part of the custom-priced Corporate plan.

Pinboard

  • There is no free plan and no free trial; a payment is refundable within seven days of signup.
  • Stored page copies and full-text search require the $39 archival account.
  • There are no native mobile apps: Pinboard offers a mobile website and relies on third-party apps.
  • The archive crawler cannot save paywalled pages, and the FAQ says YouTube and Twitter links are not saved properly.

Key features

Karakeep

Links, notes, images and PDFs
Save links, text notes, images and PDFs from any device. For links, the title, description and preview image are fetched automatically.
AI tagging and summaries
A language model tags and summarizes what you save. Self-hosted installs can run local models through Ollama; on Karakeep Cloud, AI tagging is listed under Pro.
Full-text and semantic search
Search covers the full text of saved content in keyword, hybrid or semantic mode, and OCR makes the text inside images and screenshots searchable.
Reader view, highlights and archives
Articles open in a reader view where passages can be highlighted, the mobile apps keep content for offline reading, and full-page archives protect against link rot.
Rules, RSS feeds and shared lists
A rule engine tags or files new bookmarks by conditions such as the URL, subscribed RSS feeds are saved automatically, and a list can be shared with editors or viewers.
API, CLI and MCP server
A REST API with scoped keys, webhooks, a command-line tool and a first-party MCP server let scripts and AI assistants search and save bookmarks.

Pinboard

Bookmarks, tags and privacy
Each bookmark has a title, URL, a description of any length and optional tags. Any bookmark can be private, and an account can default to private.
Read later
A read-later bookmarklet adds a page to an unread list without asking for details. Unread bookmarks are visible only to you until marked as read.
Archiving and full-text search
Archival accounts get a crawled copy of every bookmarked page that stays viewable if the original goes offline, plus search across page text.
Bookmarklets, extensions and email
Save with a bookmarklet, with browser extensions for Safari, Chrome and Firefox, or by emailing a URL to a personal Pinboard address.
API and RSS feeds
A full API modeled on version 1 of the Delicious API supports third-party clients, and every bookmark page has a matching RSS feed.
Notes, tab sets and tag bundles
Notes save snippets of text as bookmarks, tab sets store all open browser tabs for later, and tag bundles group related tags on one page.

Plans

Karakeep

  • Free$0

    Karakeep Cloud for trying the product: 10 bookmarks and 20 MB of storage, with the mobile and web apps and browser extensions.

  • Self-HostedFree

    Unlimited bookmarks and storage on your own server, with every feature and community support.

  • Pro$4

    per month, or $40 per year

    Karakeep Cloud with 50,000 bookmarks, 50 GB of storage, AI-powered tagging and full-text search. 7-day money-back guarantee.

  • CorporateCustom

    Managed deployment for teams, priced per seat: everything in Pro plus a custom domain, single sign-on, user management and priority support.

Pinboard

  • Regular account$22

    per year

    Bookmarks with tags, private bookmarks, read later, notes, tab sets, the API and RSS feeds. Refundable within seven days of signup.

  • Archival account$39

    per year

    Everything in a regular account, plus a stored copy of every bookmarked page, full-text search and dead-link checks.

Ways to pay less

Karakeep

  • Annual discount

    Save 17% with yearly billing

    The pricing page lists Pro at $4 a month or $40 a year, and labels the yearly option as a 17% saving.

Pinboard

  • Other savings

    Discounts for paying for several years

    The sign-up page says there are steep discounts for signing up for multiple years, chosen on the payment page. The amounts are not shown publicly.

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