Pocket shut down: where to save articles now
Updated
Pocket is gone. Mozilla shut it down on 8 July 2025 and queued all user data for permanent deletion on 12 November 2025. Where you save articles now depends on how you read. If you read on your phone or rely on highlights, choose a read-later app with mobile apps, such as Instapaper, Matter, or Readwise Reader. If you save and read on a computer and want the article text kept even if the page disappears, Reading Rewind covers that. If you only need a list of links, your browser's reading list or bookmarks will do.
What happened to Pocket
Mozilla announced the shutdown on 22 May 2025, switched Pocket off on 8 July 2025, and kept an export-only mode open until 12 November 2025. Its support page now says: "As of November 12, 2025, user data export has been disabled, and all user data has been queued for permanent deletion" (Mozilla). The browser button went too: Mozilla removed the Pocket integration from desktop Firefox in version 140 (Mozilla).
If you have an export file, read what to do with your Pocket export. For a feature-by-feature comparison of Pocket and Reading Rewind, see the Pocket alternative page.
Four kinds of place to save articles
There is no single replacement for Pocket, because Pocket did several jobs at once: it saved links, cleaned up articles for reading, synced to your phone, and (for Premium users) kept a permanent copy. Each kind of tool below does some of those jobs.
| Read-later app | Bookmark manager | Note app with a web clipper | Browser reading list | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main job | A queue of articles to read | Organising lots of links | Keeping clippings with your notes | A quick list of pages for later |
| Clean reader view | Yes | Sometimes | No, but the clipping is often cleaned up | Depends on the browser |
| Keeps a copy if the page disappears | Some do | Some do, often on a paid plan | Yes, the clipping is in your notes | Safari can save offline copies |
| Highlights | Most do | Some do | Yes, in your notes | No |
| Best for | Reading articles start to finish | Research and collections | Building your own reference library | Saving a few pages with no new account |
Read-later apps
A read-later app is the closest thing to Pocket. You save from the browser, read in a clean view, and work through a queue. The apps differ mainly in platforms, highlights, listening, and whether they keep a copy of the text.
Bookmark managers
Bookmark managers are built for collections: folders, tags, search, and sharing. They suit people who save links for reference more than for reading. Some can also keep a copy of each page. Raindrop.io, for example, offers a permanent copy of each bookmarked page on its paid Pro plan.
Note apps and web clippers
A web clipper saves a page into your notes. The Obsidian Web Clipper, for example, is free and open source and saves pages and highlights as Markdown files in your own vault. Clipping is more deliberate than saving to a queue, so it suits articles you want to keep and annotate rather than articles you might read once.
Browser reading lists
Your browser may already have a list built in. Chrome has a Reading list under Bookmarks and lists. Safari's Reading List can save articles for offline reading. For a copy you can open offline, Chrome's Help suggests Save page as instead. Firefox lost its built-in option when Pocket was removed.
Pick by what you need
Each of these tools is a good choice for some readers. This list matches needs to tools without ranking them. Platform details come from each tool's own site, as of October 2026, so check plans and features there before you switch.
- You read mostly on your phone and want offline reading. Instapaper has apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and an Android app. It saves articles for offline reading and supports highlights, notes, and text-to-speech.
- You want highlights, newsletters, and listening in one place. Matter describes itself as a read-later app for iPhone, iPad, and the web, with highlighting and speech synthesis. Readwise Reader runs on the web, iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows, works offline, and says it accepts a Pocket export file.
- You use only Apple devices. GoodLinks runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with a clean reader view, highlights, and notes.
- You want open source or to host it yourself. wallabag can be self-hosted or used as a hosted service, and it imports Pocket CSV exports.
- You save hundreds of links for research. A bookmark manager such as Raindrop.io, which has browser extensions and apps for desktop and mobile.
- You save and read on a computer and want the text kept. That is what Reading Rewind is built for. The next section covers it honestly.
Where Reading Rewind fits, and where it doesn't
Reading Rewind is a read-later app for desktop Chrome, with a Firefox extension in beta. It is free to use today, and you don't need a credit card.
What it does:
- One-click saving. Click the toolbar button and the page goes to the top of Read Later, your reading list. You can add a tag as you save.
- No duplicates. Saving a page that is already in your list moves it back to the top.
- A stored copy of the text. In the background, the server extracts a clean reader view and stores the article text with your save. If the original page changes or disappears, you can still read it. Images are not stored; they load from the original site.
- Reading and finding. You choose the text size in the reader view. Your saves also appear in Bookmarks, where you can filter by tag and find them by title or web address.
What it doesn't do: there are no mobile apps, no highlights, no offline reading, no full-text search, and no Pocket import. The extension is a .zip download, not a store listing, and the Firefox beta loads as a temporary add-on that Firefox removes when it restarts. If you read on your phone or highlight as you go, one of the apps above is a better fit today.
What Pocket and Omnivore teach about choosing
Pocket is not the only read-later app to close. Omnivore, an open-source read-later app, announced in October 2024 that its team was joining ElevenLabs. It gave users until 30 November 2024 to export, then planned to erase "links, highlights, folders, and personal user data" (Omnivore blog, archived).
Two lessons follow, whichever tool you pick:
- Check how you get your data out. Look for an export option before you save your thousandth article. Reading Rewind has no export yet, so weigh that before you move a large library into it.
- Prefer a copy to a link. An export of links is only as good as the pages it points to, and many pages don't last. Why articles disappear from the web explains how often that happens.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pocket coming back?
Mozilla's support page describes the shutdown as complete: the apps and extensions no longer work, the API was switched off on 12 November 2025, and user data was queued for permanent deletion. Plan as if it is not coming back.
Can I still get my Pocket saves?
No. Export closed on 12 November 2025. If you exported before then, you have a file you can still use. If you didn't, Mozilla can no longer provide your list.
What is the closest replacement for Pocket on a phone?
A read-later app with mobile apps, such as Instapaper, Matter, or Readwise Reader. Reading Rewind has no mobile app, so it isn't a phone replacement today.
Does Firefox still have a read-later button?
Not built in. Mozilla removed the Pocket integration in Firefox 140. You can add one with an extension; Reading Rewind's Firefox extension is in beta.
Is Reading Rewind free?
Yes, it is free to use today, and you don't need a credit card. You can create an account and follow the Chrome install guide to save your first article.