The start.me Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about start.me in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
start.me
The Insider’s Guide
Start page and bookmark manager built from widgets
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among read-later and bookmark apps, read from start.me’s own pages.
Made by Start.me BV · checked Oct 6, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from start.me’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on start.me’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 6, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.6
GPA, above 11 of the 36 other read-later and bookmark apps we grade
start.me is a cloud-hosted start page and bookmark manager. A page is assembled from widgets such as bookmark lists, RSS news feeds, notes, tasks and embeds, and can serve as a browser homepage or new tab that stays in sync across browsers and devices. Pages are private by default and can be shared by link or with invited people, and a Team plan adds a shared workspace. The free plan carries advertising and is limited to three pages.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about start.me, taken from its own pages and our grades.
Saving a link afterwards is one click from the extension or the phone app.
- 1
Best for a home page of bookmarks and feeds in every browser
It's a start page, not a reader, so there's no reading view or read-later list.
- 2
Paid plans start at $2.08 a month when paid by the year
As its pricing page puts it: $25 per year (Personal PRO).
- 3
There is a free plan
Free personal plan supported by advertising: up to 3 start pages with basic widgets, and unlimited bookmarks and widgets.
- 4
It runs on 3 platforms
Web, iOS and Android, with a browser extension too.
- 5
Start pages built from widgets
A page combines widgets such as bookmarks, news feeds, notes, tasks, calendar, weather and embeds, arranged by dragging, and can be set as a browser homepage or new tab.
- 6
Bookmark management
Links are saved in one click from the browser extension or mobile app and organized into pages, widgets and groups. PRO adds broken and duplicate link detection.
- 7
News (RSS) widgets
An RSS widget follows a news source, blog or industry feed, and new articles show up on the page automatically.
- 8
A 2.6 GPA, above 11 of 36
That is against the other read-later and bookmark apps we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
The plain part of start.me you could make: bookmarks and rSS reader. What surrounds it you could not. The 7 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
start.me at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $25 per year (Personal PRO)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Team plan: free 30-day trial with up to 10 members, no credit card needed
- Runs on
- Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension
- Made by
- Start.me BV, since 2014
- Category
- Read Later & Bookmarks
- Our grade
- 2.6 GPA, good
The report card
Best for a home page of bookmarks and feeds in every browser
start.me turns your browser's home page into a board of widgets: bookmark lists, RSS headlines, notes, tasks and embeds, the same in every browser and on your phone. It's a start page, not a reader, so there's no reading view or read-later list. Free shows ads and stops at 3 pages, PRO is $25 a year, Team starts at 10 users, and the Android app hasn't been updated since November 2024.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B | PRO is $25 a year, $2.08 a month, which is inside the lowest-priced quarter for reading tools here, and it brings unlimited pages, no ads, 27 PRO features and the AI tools. Team is $25 a month billed annually for 10 users, so about the same each. |
| Free plan and trial | C | Free is capped where it hurts: 3 start pages, basic widgets only, and advertising on your own home page. Bookmark groups, broken and duplicate link detection, uploads and the AI tools all need PRO. The Team plan does have a 30-day trial with no card. |
| Features | B | It covers the start-page job: widgets for bookmarks, RSS news, notes, tasks, calendar, weather and embeds, one-click saving from the extension or phone app, and pages shared by link or with invited editors. As a place to read it's thin, mind: headlines in a widget, no reading view. |
| Ease of use | C | No store rating on record, and the work here is building the thing itself: you drag widgets into place and arrange a page before it's any use to you. Saving a link afterwards is one click from the extension or the phone app. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web, iPhone and Android apps and a browser extension, with widgets that hook into Google Calendar, Trello and Google Tasks. No desktop app, so an A is out, and the Android app on Google Play was last updated in November 2024. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who start.me is for
- Fits if you want the same page of links and headlines in every browser you use
- Works for teachers and researchers who share curated pages of links
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you want a real feed reader, as RSS here is a widget of headlines on a page
- Tight if you stay free: ads on your own home page, 3 pages and basic widgets only
- Watch out: bookmark groups, broken-link checks, uploads and the AI tools all need PRO at $25 a year
- Pricey if a small team needs a few seats or SAML sign-on, since Team is $25 a month billed yearly and starts at 10 users
- Watch out: the Android app on Google Play was last updated in November 2024
Good to know
Good for
- People who want one visual homepage of links in every browser
- Teachers, researchers and OSINT analysts sharing curated link pages
- Teams that want a simple shared page of tools and resources
Worth knowing
- The Free plan shows advertising and stops at 3 start pages with basic widgets only.
- Bookmark groups, broken and duplicate link detection, document uploads and AI features all require PRO.
- Team is billed annually and starts with 10 user licenses; SAML single sign-on is not part of the personal plans.
- The Android app on Google Play was last updated in November 2024.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$2.08
A month to start, paid by the year. There is a free plan too
start.me has a free plan. Paid plans start at $25 per year (Personal PRO).
Bookmark groups, broken and duplicate link detection, uploads and the AI tools all need PRO.
Free
$0
For personal use: a maximum of 3 start pages, basic widgets only, and advertising on your pages.
PRO
$25
per year, for one user license
Unlimited start pages, no advertisements, 27 PRO features and widgets, and AI features.
Team
$25
per month, billed annually; includes 10 users
One team workspace with 10 PRO licenses, a custom subdomain and branding, SAML single sign-on and priority support. More users can be added.
Enterprise
Custom
Everything in Team, plus unlimited users, multiple team workspaces, a dedicated support manager and custom invoicing.
The free plan
Free personal plan supported by advertising: up to 3 start pages with basic widgets, and unlimited bookmarks and widgets.
Trying it first
Team plan: free 30-day trial with up to 10 members, no credit card needed
Read from web.archive.org on Oct 6, 2026, where its own pages could not be read.
Ways to pay less
Education
Discounted plans for schools and non-profits
The pricing page's FAQ says discounted plans are offered to schools and non-profit organizations, arranged by contacting the sales team with details of the organization.
Stated on web.archive.org
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
4
Places it runs: Web, iOS, Android and Browser extension
Start page and bookmark manager built from widgets. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: AI features, bookmarks, rSS reader.
As a place to read it's thin, mind: headlines in a widget, no reading view.
- Start pages built from widgets
- A page combines widgets such as bookmarks, news feeds, notes, tasks, calendar, weather and embeds, arranged by dragging, and can be set as a browser homepage or new tab.
- Bookmark management
- Links are saved in one click from the browser extension or mobile app and organized into pages, widgets and groups. PRO adds broken and duplicate link detection.
- News (RSS) widgets
- An RSS widget follows a news source, blog or industry feed, and new articles show up on the page automatically.
- Sharing and collaboration
- Pages are private by default and can be shared through an open, password-protected or public link, or by inviting people as viewers or editors. Page collaboration needs PRO.
- AI bookmark tools
- On paid plans, AI features tidy bookmark titles, sort links into place and suggest useful sites to add.
- Team workspace
- The Team plan adds a shared workspace with member management, an admin console, a custom subdomain and branding, and SAML single sign-on.
Where it runs
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Browser extension
What it works with
- Google Calendar
- Trello
- Google Tasks
- Google Analytics
- AdSense
start.me is made by Start.me BV, and has been around since 2014.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
11/36
Other read-later and bookmark apps it is graded above
start.me's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 11 of the 36 other read-later and bookmark apps we grade, and level with 4.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 19 of 36) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 2).
Its paid plans start at $2.08 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $3 for the category: 5 of the 24 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 37 read-later and bookmark apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. start.me’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 19 of 36
- CFree plan and trialAbove 2 of 36
- BFeaturesAbove 10 of 36
- CEase of useAbove 4 of 36
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 10 of 36
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 33 read-later and bookmark apps. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. start.me is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
The plain part of start.me you could make: bookmarks and rSS reader. What surrounds it you could not. The 7 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 21 of the 36 other read-later and bookmark apps grade higher. It costs $25 a year.
What you could make
- Bookmarks and rSS reader: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It plugs into other products, Google Calendar, Trello and Google Tasks among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- Hooks into the device itself: widgets.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on and roles and permissions.
- Sharing with other people, which means accounts and invitations.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. start.me’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Raindrop.io, Diigo, Linkwarden, Pinboard and Feedly
The 5 tools start.me is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 3.2GPA
Raindrop.io
Free plan · from $28/yr
Bookmark manager with collections, tags and highlights.
- Only Raindrop.io lists macOS and Windows apps.
- start.me also covers rSS reader.
- Raindrop.io also covers read later and highlights.
- 2.4GPA
Diigo
Free plan · from $40/yr
Bookmarking with highlights and sticky notes on web pages and PDFs.
- Only start.me lists an Android app.
- start.me also covers rSS reader.
- Diigo also covers research and highlights.
- 2.8GPA
Linkwarden
Free plan · from $3/mo
Open-source bookmark manager that preserves a copy of each page.
- Linkwarden is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- start.me also covers rSS reader.
- Linkwarden also covers read later and highlights.
- 2.2GPA
Pinboard
From $22/yr
Paid bookmarking site with tags, privacy and page archiving.
- start.me has a free plan. Pinboard does not.
- Only start.me lists iOS and Android apps.
- start.me also covers rSS reader.
- 2.6GPA
Feedly
Free plan · from $6.99/mo
News reader for RSS feeds, with AI filtering on paid plans.
- start.me also covers bookmarks.
- Feedly also covers read later and highlights.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
15
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is start.me free?
start.me has a free plan. Free personal plan supported by advertising: up to 3 start pages with basic widgets, and unlimited bookmarks and widgets.
How much does start.me cost?
start.me lists 4 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does start.me work on?
start.me is available on Web, iOS and Android. It also has a browser extension.
Does start.me offer any discounts?
start.me publicly lists the following: Discounted plans for schools and non-profits.
Does start.me have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 6, 2026. start.me is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does start.me have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 6, 2026. start.me is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is start.me open source?
start.me is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 6, 2026.
What does start.me integrate with?
start.me's listing names Google Calendar, Trello, Google Tasks, Google Analytics and AdSense.
Does start.me have a student discount?
Discounted plans for schools and non-profits. The pricing page's FAQ says discounted plans are offered to schools and non-profit organizations, arranged by contacting the sales team with details of the organization.
Does start.me have a free trial?
Yes. Team plan: free 30-day trial with up to 10 members, no credit card needed.
Who makes start.me?
start.me is made by Start.me BV. It dates from 2014.
What are the alternatives to start.me?
The closest alternatives to start.me in our directory are Raindrop.io, Diigo, Linkwarden, Pinboard and Feedly.
How does start.me compare with other read-later and bookmark apps?
start.me's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 11 of the 36 other read-later and bookmark apps we grade, and level with 4.
Is start.me good value for money?
ToolGPA grades start.me B for value for money. Its paid plans start at $2.08 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $3 for the category: 5 of the 24 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of start.me?
The plain part of start.me you could make: bookmarks and rSS reader. What surrounds it you could not.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from start.me’s own pages on Oct 6, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from archived copies of start.me's own pages on 6 October 2026. Its pricing page would not load when we went back to check it. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-09-27.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Start.me BV. Prices change, so check start.me before you buy.
- web.archive.org/web/20261004184118/https://start.me/pricing
- web.archive.org/web/20260916161432/https://start.me/
- web.archive.org/web/20260705163451/https://start.me/features
- apps.apple.com/us/app/start-me/id1204749499
- play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.startme&hl=en_US&gl=US
- chromewebstore.google.com/detail/bookmarker-by-startme/obgopghdefjihikoknnjfooahlleabno
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- start.me, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/start-me
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "start.me: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 6, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/start-me
Know someone choosing between read-later and bookmark apps?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/start-me/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded read-later and bookmark apps after start.me, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Read Later & Bookmarks Insider's GuideEvery one of the 37 read-later and bookmark apps we grade, compared
- FeedFlow Insider's GuideFree, open-source RSS reader for mobile and desktop3.2 GPA
- Flipboard Insider's GuideFree news aggregator built around topics and shared Magazines3.2 GPA
- Miniflux Insider's GuideMinimalist open-source feed reader, self-hosted or hosted3.2 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what start.me’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. start.me is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Start.me BV. Prices and plans change: check start.me before you buy.