Karakeep's self-hosted version is free and open-source (AGPL-3.0). You pay only for the server you run it on — a $4–5/month VPS is enough. Karakeep also offers a managed cloud tier (cloud.karakeep.app) with its own pricing.

What was Karakeep formerly called?

Karakeep was formerly called Hoarder. The project was renamed in late 2024 as it matured. The GitHub repository still shows the project history. Same software, new name.

Does Karakeep have an MCP server?

No. As of May 2026, Karakeep does not have a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. If you want to query your bookmark library from Claude, Cursor, or other AI tools, Burn 451 is currently the only read-later app with a native MCP integration.

How hard is it to self-host Karakeep?

For someone comfortable with Docker Compose, setup takes under an hour. You need a server (VPS or home machine) with 2GB+ RAM, Docker installed, and optionally a domain name. Karakeep's documentation covers the full setup. If you've never run a Docker container, expect a learning curve.

Does Karakeep work on iPhone?

Yes. Karakeep has official iOS and Android apps. You'll need to point them at your self-hosted server URL during initial setup. The Karakeep cloud tier simplifies this — you log in with credentials instead of configuring a server address.

Karakeep Self-Hosted vs Burn 451 Cloud: Which Is Right for You?

Self-hosted bookmark apps appeal to a specific kind of person: someone who has watched enough SaaS companies shut down (hi, Pocket; hi, Matter; hi, Omnivore) that they'd rather own their own stack. Karakeep — formerly known as Hoarder — is the best self-hosted option in the read-later category right now. This post breaks down exactly what you get with Karakeep, what you trade away, and when Burn 451's cloud approach is the better call.

What Is Karakeep (Formerly Hoarder)?

Karakeep is an open-source, self-hostable bookmark-everything app built for data hoarders. It was renamed from Hoarder in late 2024 as the project matured beyond its scrappy origins. Today it has 25,000+ GitHub stars, an active Discord, iOS and Android apps, browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, and a managed cloud tier at cloud.karakeep.app for users who want the software without the ops.

Core features: - Link bookmarking with automatic title and description fetching - AI auto-tagging using local models via Ollama or hosted LLMs - Full-text search across your entire saved library - Full-page archival so content survives link rot - OCR for images and PDFs - RSS feed ingestion - Shared lists for collaboration - SSO support for team deployments - Licensed under AGPL-3.0 — fully auditable, no black-box behavior

The self-hosting path is Docker-based. Most users are up in under an hour if they're comfortable with Compose files.

Why Self-Host a Bookmark App in 2026?

The read-later market has had a bad run. Pocket shut down July 8, 2025. Matter shut down. Omnivore was acquired by ElevenLabs and mothballed. If you've lived through one or more of these you understand the appeal of owning your own instance.

The self-hosting argument has three pillars:

1.Permanence — your server doesn't get acquired or defunded
2.Privacy — articles never leave infrastructure you control
3.Cost at scale — no per-seat SaaS pricing for a heavy library

These are real advantages. They're also not free. Every self-hosted deployment comes with an ops tax.

What Does Running Karakeep Actually Cost You?

Not in money — in time and attention.

Server requirements: Karakeep recommends at least 2GB RAM. A Hetzner CX21 (€3.29/month at current pricing) or a DigitalOcean Droplet covers this. Add a domain and TLS setup if you want HTTPS outside your LAN.

Maintenance overhead: Docker image updates, database backups, monitoring for service crashes. If you already run a homelab, this is noise. If you don't, it's a new responsibility.

AI feature setup: The auto-tagging that makes Karakeep compelling requires either a local Ollama instance (GPU or CPU inference — slower on CPU) or API keys for an external LLM. Getting this right takes an afternoon. The results vary significantly by model quality.

Mobile sync: iOS and Android apps work well once configured, but initial setup against a self-hosted server requires editing server URLs manually — there's no "sign in with email" flow that works out of the box.

For a technical user with an existing homelab, this overhead is acceptable. For someone who just wants a read-later app, it's a lot.

How Does Burn 451 Compare?

Burn 451 is a cloud-native read-later app built around AI processing and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The comparison points that matter:

Feature	Karakeep (self-hosted)	Burn 451
Setup	Docker + server + DNS	Sign up, save first link
AI tagging	Local or API (config required)	Automatic, no setup
Full-text search	Yes	Yes
MCP server	No	Yes — query your library from Claude
CLI	No	Yes
Mobile apps	iOS + Android	iOS
Pricing	Free (+ server cost)	Free tier + paid
Data ownership	Full (your server)	Burn-hosted
Uptime SLA	You	Burn team
Link rot protection	Full-page archival	Yes

The differentiating gap is the MCP integration. Burn 451 ships a Model Context Protocol server that lets you query your saved library from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client. You can ask "what have I saved about agent frameworks?" and get a structured answer without leaving your coding environment. Karakeep has no equivalent.

The other gap is zero-setup AI. Burn 451's tagging and summarization works on save, no Ollama configuration needed. For users who want AI features but don't want to tune a local model, this is the faster path.

Who Should Use Karakeep Self-Hosted?

Strong fit: - Already running a homelab (Proxmox, Unraid, a spare Pi 5) - Privacy requirements that preclude third-party data processing - Need for team/family deployments with SSO (Karakeep supports this well) - Budget-constrained heavy users saving 1,000+ articles/month - Developers who want to fork and customize behavior

Weak fit: - First-time read-later app users - People who want AI features without configuration overhead - Anyone who doesn't want to think about server uptime - Developers who want to query their library from AI coding tools

Who Should Use Burn 451?

Strong fit: - Developers using Claude Code, Cursor, or other MCP-compatible tools - Users who want AI summaries and tagging on save, zero config - People who have watched Pocket/Matter/Omnivore shut down and want a cloud option that doesn't require their own ops - Mobile-first users who want an app that works without a home network

Weak fit: - Users with strict on-premises data requirements - Teams that need SSO and multi-user collaboration today

What About Karakeep Cloud?

Karakeep now offers a managed hosting tier at cloud.karakeep.app. This removes the ops overhead while keeping the Karakeep feature set. Pricing wasn't publicly listed at the time of writing — check their site directly.

The interesting thing about Karakeep cloud: you get the self-hosted software's features (archival, OCR, local-model option) in a managed wrapper, but you still don't get MCP integration or CLI tooling. For developer-workflow use cases, Burn 451 is still the differentiated choice.

Can You Run Both?

Yes, and some power users do. Karakeep as a full archival layer (every article, preserved forever, your server) with Burn 451 as the AI-retrieval and MCP layer. Save to both via browser extension. This is overkill for most people but is a coherent strategy if you're serious about long-term knowledge management and AI integration.

The Bottom Line

Karakeep is the best self-hosted bookmark app available in 2026. If you have a homelab, care about data permanence, or need multi-user SSO deployments, it's worth the setup. The 25k GitHub star count and active community mean it won't go dark quietly.

If you want AI-assisted reading without infrastructure work — and especially if you're building a workflow around AI coding tools — Burn 451 is the faster path. The MCP server is the feature that Karakeep doesn't have and probably can't easily add for cloud deployment.

Start with what fits your ops tolerance. Both tools are actively maintained and genuinely useful.

Try Burn 451