Linkwarden
Self-hosted bookmark manager that archives web pages locally as screenshots and readable text. Save links organised into collections, and preserve content before it disappears
Quick Start
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -e DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@db:5432/linkwarden -v linkwarden:/data/data ghcr.io/linkwarden/linkwarden:latest Overview
Linkwarden is a self-hosted bookmark manager that archives the content of each page you save. When you bookmark a link, Linkwarden fetches the page, captures a full screenshot, and extracts the readable text — storing a permanent copy on your server. If the original page goes offline, gets paywalled, or changes, your archived version remains.
The archiving-first approach is what distinguishes it from basic bookmark tools. Raindrop.io and Pinboard remember that you saved a URL; Linkwarden remembers what the page contained. For research, reference material, or any link where the content matters beyond the URL, that difference is meaningful. Link rot affects a significant percentage of URLs saved even a few years ago.
Collections provide the organisational layer. You create collections to group related links, add tags and notes to individual bookmarks, and search across all saved content including the archived text. Collections can be made public with a shareable URL, which is useful for publishing a curated reading list or resource collection without depending on a third-party service.
The browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox make saving a one-click operation. The iOS and Android share sheets let you save from mobile without leaving the app you are browsing in.
The resource consideration is the Playwright browser dependency. Capturing full-page screenshots requires a headless browser running in the container, which adds memory overhead compared to a basic bookmark store. On a server with other services running, it is worth accounting for.
Linkwarden and Wallabag are complementary rather than competing. Wallabag extracts clean article text for reading. Linkwarden preserves pages as they appeared. Many people who care about archiving use both.
Linkwarden: Pros & Cons
| Pros (The Wins) | Cons (The Friction) |
|---|---|
| Page archiving: Screenshots and text saved at bookmark time. | AGPL licence: Commercial hosting use needs a licence agreement. |
| Persistent content: Pages preserved even after the original goes offline. | Playwright overhead: Headless browser adds memory use to the container. |
| Public collections: Share curated link lists at a public URL. | No reading view: Archives pages as-is; not clean extracted article text. |
| 18.5k stars: Browser extensions and mobile share sheet support. | JS pages capture poorly: Complex or paywalled pages may not archive cleanly. |
Use Cases
Specific ways to use Linkwarden for your workflow.
Deployment Strategy
Recommended ways to host Linkwarden in your own environment.