The last bookmark manager

I decided to build (another) bookmark manager. I am not sure if the world needs another one, but I personally was not happy with the choices out there. Let me explain.

I have used del.icio.us, Pocket, Instapaper and a few others previously. I was delighted with del.icio.us, until it was shut down. Since then I tried to use alternatives like Pocket and Instapaper, but neither really filled my need. They are both more tailored to reading articles, instead just keeping my links. Also the interface was more like a newspaper, then just a list of links that you can easily filter. I’ve tried using a custom Markdown file system on my local machine and even Mac Notes as my go-to solution. But nothing to my liking. I either forgot where my links where stored.

Last month I doubled down on a quest to find a bookmark manager once and for all: my last bookmark manager. I found Pinboard, Linkace, Linkding and Archivebox. Pinboard took basically the spot of del.icio.us. Linkace, Linkding and Archivebox are all self-hosted, open source solutions. I guess the market for hosted minimal bookmark managers has dried up since the days of del.icio.us.

So, which (or what kind of) bookmark manager would I trust with my links for the next 30 years?

  • It has to be open source and easy to host
  • (Close to) zero maintenance, no fancy Javascript or CSS. As little dependencies as possible. If any dependencies are necessary, they have to be battle tested.
  • Minimal features: store links, tags. Import and export bookmarks. Plus RSS feeds. That’s it.
  • Simple UI, that works on desktop and mobile

As a result of this, I decided to build Lastmark. It’s build on Golang, SQLite, some HTMX and inline CSS. I stupidly simple: you add links, can tag them, and you can search them. That is basically it.

Update 15 feb 2024

I’ve been using Lastmark basically everyday and I really like it’s fire and forget. It just runs. No maintenance. However, I believe I’ve found a missing requirement. If Lastmark is truly your last bookmark manager, it should also run on your desktop computer where it stores links in a local markdown file, with a fallback to cloud backup. Next stop: Lastmark Desktop.