What's in this guide
  1. What happened to Pocket
  2. Best Pocket alternatives compared
  3. Folded — our pick for most Pocket users
  4. Readwise Reader
  5. Instapaper
  6. Raindrop.io
  7. How to migrate your Pocket data
  8. FAQ

What happened to Pocket?

Pocket, the beloved read-later app owned by Mozilla, shut down on July 8, 2025. After 14 years of operation and over 17 million active users, Mozilla announced it was discontinuing the service as part of broader cost-cutting measures.

Pocket allowed users to save articles, web pages, and videos for later viewing with a clean reading interface. The shutdown left millions of users scrambling for alternatives — and with their reading lists suddenly inaccessible.

The good news: Pocket allowed users to export their data before shutdown. If you still have your Pocket export file, you can import it into Folded in minutes.

💡 Our quick recommendation

For most Pocket users, Folded is the closest replacement: clean reader view, simple save flow, AI summaries included, and $4/month (or free tier with 100 saves/month). Import your Pocket export here →

Best Pocket alternatives: quick comparison

App Folded Readwise Reader Instapaper Raindrop.io
Price/month $4 $7.99 $2.99 $3.17
Free tier ✓ 100/mo ✓ limited ✓ ✓
AI summaries ✓ included ✓ ✗ ✗
Clean reader view ✓ ✓ ✓ limited
Pocket import ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Bookmarklet ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Browser extensions coming soon ✓ ✓ ✓

1. Folded — Best for Pocket refugees

📚
Folded Our pick
Free · $4/mo Pro
Built specifically for displaced Pocket and Omnivore users. Folded focuses on what matters: clean reading, fast saving, and AI summaries to help you decide what's worth your full attention. No bloat, no social features, no VC pressure.
✓ Pros
  • $4/mo — half the price of Readwise
  • AI summaries included at no extra charge
  • Clean, focused interface
  • Import Pocket export directly
  • Free tier: 100 saves/month
  • Bookmarklet for one-click saving
✗ Cons
  • No mobile app yet (web only)
  • No browser extension yet
  • Newer — smaller community

Folded's core insight: most people don't need everything that Pocket tried to be in its later years. They need a reliable place to save articles, read them without distractions, and occasionally get a summary when they don't have time to read in full. That's it.

The AI summary feature is genuinely useful — it uses Claude (Anthropic's AI) to give you a 3-4 sentence summary of any saved article, so you can quickly decide if it deserves your full attention. At $4/month with unlimited summaries on the Pro plan, this is a better deal than any competitor.

Start using Folded today

Free tier available. No credit card required. Import your Pocket library in minutes.

Create free account Import from Pocket

2. Readwise Reader — Best for power users

📖
Readwise Reader
Free (limited) · $7.99/mo
The most feature-rich option. Readwise Reader is excellent if you're a heavy reader who wants highlighting, note-taking, spaced repetition, newsletter management, and RSS feeds — all in one place. The learning tools are genuinely impressive.
✓ Pros
  • Best highlighting + notes workflow
  • Newsletter and RSS support
  • Excellent mobile app
  • Spaced repetition for review
  • AI features included
✗ Cons
  • $7.99/mo — more expensive
  • Complex interface — learning curve
  • More than most Pocket users need

Readwise Reader is the right choice if you were already using Pocket as a stepping stone to a deeper reading practice — taking notes, highlighting, connecting ideas. If you just want to save articles and read them later, it's more app than you need.

3. Instapaper — Best simple alternative

📄
Instapaper
Free · $2.99/mo Premium
The OG read-later app, predating Pocket. Instapaper is clean, reliable, and cheap. The free tier is surprisingly generous. Lacks AI summaries but covers the basics well.
✓ Pros
  • Only $2.99/mo for Premium
  • Excellent mobile apps
  • Clean, proven interface
  • Text-to-speech in Premium
✗ Cons
  • No AI summaries
  • Limited search on free
  • Development pace is slow

4. Raindrop.io — Best for bookmark organization

🌧️
Raindrop.io
Free · $3.17/mo Pro
More of a bookmark manager than a read-later app. If you want to heavily organize links with tags, folders, and visual previews, Raindrop is excellent. Less focused on the actual reading experience.
✓ Pros
  • Excellent organization tools
  • Beautiful visual interface
  • Browser extensions for all browsers
  • Collaborative collections
✗ Cons
  • Reader view is basic
  • No AI summaries
  • Better as bookmarker than reader

How to migrate your Pocket data

If you exported your Pocket data before the shutdown, here's how to bring it to Folded:

  1. If you still have access to Pocket, go to getpocket.com/export and download the HTML export file
  2. Create a free Folded account at folded-app.fly.dev/signup
  3. Go to folded-app.fly.dev/import
  4. Upload your ril_export.html file
  5. Your articles will be imported — content loads automatically when you open each one

The import supports up to 500 articles per batch. Duplicates are automatically skipped. Article content is fetched fresh when you first open each imported article, so you always get the current version.

Frequently asked questions

Is Pocket really gone? Can I still access my saved articles?
Pocket shut down on July 8, 2025. Mozilla discontinued the service entirely. If you didn't export your data before shutdown, those articles are unfortunately no longer accessible through Pocket. The export option was available until the shutdown date.
What about Omnivore — is that still available?
Omnivore, the open-source read-later app, shut down in November 2024. The codebase remains open source if you want to self-host, but the hosted service is gone. Folded accepts Omnivore exports — contact us at hello@folded-app.fly.dev for help.
Does Folded have a mobile app?
Not yet — Folded is currently web-only. The web app works well on mobile browsers, and you can add it to your home screen for an app-like experience. A native iOS and Android app is on the roadmap.
Is there a browser extension for Folded?
Folded currently offers a bookmarklet that works in all browsers and is quick to install. A full browser extension is in development.
How does Folded's AI summary feature work?
When you're reading an article, you can request an AI summary with one click. Folded uses Claude (Anthropic's AI) to generate a 3-4 sentence summary of the article's key points. Free users get 10 summaries/month; Pro users get unlimited summaries. Summaries are cached so you only pay for them once per article.
Is my reading data private?
Yes. Folded doesn't sell your reading data, doesn't serve ads, and doesn't track your reading habits for any purpose other than providing the service to you. Your library is yours.

Switch to Folded today

Free tier: 100 saves/month. Pro: $4/month with unlimited saves and AI summaries.

Create free account →