Karakeep vs Raindrop.io
We give Karakeep a 3.4 GPA and Raindrop.io a 3.8, out of 4.0. Raindrop.io grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
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
Raindrop.io
Bookmark manager with collections, tags and highlights
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAKarakeepVery good | 3.8GPARaindrop.ioExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro on Karakeep Cloud is $4 a month or $40 a year, about typical for a reading app. It holds 50,000 bookmarks and 50 GB, with AI tagging and full-text search, and comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee. Self-host it and you pay nothing. | APro is $28 a year, or $3 a month. For that you get full-text search, a saved copy of every page, reminders, daily backups, the AI assistant and 10 GB of uploads a month. That's cheaper than most paid reading apps. |
| Free plan and trial | BKarakeep Cloud's Free plan is a taster: 10 bookmarks and 20 MB, with AI tagging and full-text search listed under Pro. The real free version is the self-hosted one, with every feature and no caps, if you have a server to run it on. | AUnlimited bookmarks, collections, highlights and devices, with sharing and collaboration thrown in. The main limit is 100 MB of file uploads a month. Most people never need to pay. |
| Features | ALinks, notes, images and PDFs in one place, tagged and summarised for you. Search covers the full text, and OCR reads the words inside screenshots. There's a reader view with highlights, full-page archives, rules, RSS feeds saved automatically, and an API, CLI and MCP server. | ACollections, tags and filters, highlights in web pages, PDFs and EPUBs, shared collections and public pages. Pro adds search through the full text of what you saved, YouTube transcripts included, plus a web archive and an AI assistant that's still in beta. |
| Ease of use | BThere's no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is as high as we go. On Karakeep Cloud you sign up and start saving, and the tagging is done for you. Hosting your own copy is a Docker job, which is a different afternoon. | B4.49 from 416 App Store ratings. You sort links into collections and tags and pick how they look: grid, headlines, masonry or a plain list. A public collection needs no sign-up from the people you send it to. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, iPhone and Android apps and browser extensions, with a REST API, webhooks, a command-line tool and a first-party MCP server. Self-hosted installs can run local models through Ollama. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and browser extensions, with an API and hooks into Zapier, IFTTT, Make, Notion, Readwise and more. The one gap is Linux, as the desktop apps are macOS and Windows only. |
| Best for | self-hosted bookmarks that tag themselves | all-round bookmarking on every device |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Karakeep and Raindrop.io. How we grade
Where they differ
- Karakeep starts at $4 per month, or $40 per year (Pro, Karakeep Cloud). Raindrop.io starts at $28 per year, or $3 per month.
- Only Raindrop.io lists macOS and Windows apps.
- Karakeep is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Karakeep | Raindrop.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4 per month, or $40 per year (Pro, Karakeep Cloud) | $28 per year, or $3 per month |
| Free plan | Karakeep 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. | Unlimited bookmarks, collections, highlights and devices, with sharing and collaboration included. File uploads are limited to 100 MB a month. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Localhost Labs Ltd | Rustem Mussabekov |
| Price read from | karakeep.app | raindrop.io |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 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
Raindrop.io
- Keeping a large bookmark library organized across browsers and devices
- Sharing link collections with collaborators or on a public page
- People who highlight passages in web pages, PDFs and EPUBs
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.
Raindrop.io
- Full-text search, the web archive, reminders and the AI assistant are limited to Pro.
- Free accounts can upload 100 MB of files a month; Pro raises the limit to 10 GB.
- Notes on highlights require Pro, and each bookmark holds at most 100 highlights.
- The download page lists desktop apps for macOS and Windows only.
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.
Raindrop.io
- Collections, tags and filters
- Bookmarks are grouped into collections and classified with tags, then narrowed by type, tag or domain. Grid, headlines, masonry and list views are available.
- Highlights
- Save passages from web pages, PDFs and EPUBs in several colors, up to 100 per bookmark on any plan. Adding notes to highlights requires Pro.
- Full-text search
- On Pro, search covers the full content of saved pages, PDFs, EPUBs and YouTube transcripts instead of only titles and tags.
- Web archive and backups
- Pro keeps a saved copy of each bookmarked page in case the original changes or disappears, and runs automatic backups of the whole library.
- Sharing and public pages
- Invite members to a collection with per-collection permissions, or publish a collection as a public page that needs no sign-up. Both work on the free plan.
- Stella AI assistant
- A chat assistant, in beta for Pro users, that answers questions about saved content, summarizes it and helps organize collections.
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.
Raindrop.io
Free$0
Unlimited bookmarks, collections, highlights and devices, sharing and collaboration, and 100 MB of file uploads a month.
Pro$3
per month, or $28 per year (before tax)
AI assistant, full-text search, web archive, reminders, annotations, duplicate and broken-link finder, daily backups and 10 GB of uploads a month.
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.
Raindrop.io
- Annual discount
About 20% off with yearly billing
The pricing page marks yearly billing as 20% off, and the US prices it loads are $28 a year against $3 a month.
