head to head · open source
Karakeep vs Linkwarden
Karakeep has 29,110 GitHub stars, 1,516 forks, 726 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Linkwarden has 19,787 stars, 845 forks, 662 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Karakeep leads on adoption by 47% (29,110 vs 19,787 stars). Karakeep is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Linkwarden is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Karakeep has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Linkwarden 4%. Karakeep was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (bookmark-manager, nextjs, react-native, read-it-later), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Karakeep | Linkwarden | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 20K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 845 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Karakeep if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Linkwarden if
- You want the Linkwarden feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Linkwarden fits your workflow better
About Karakeep
Karakeep is a self hostable bookmark and content management application designed for users who collect links, notes, images, and PDFs across devices. It originated as Hoarder and evolved into a full featured tool for personal knowledge management, with strong emphasis on AI assisted organization and long term content preservation. Built with Next.js, it runs in the web browser and mobile apps, supporting both local and cloud hosted AI models.
read the full Karakeep overview →
About Linkwarden
Linkwarden is an open source, self hosted collaborative bookmark manager written in TypeScript, with a Next.js web interface and React Native mobile applications. It lives in the self hosted productivity and content management ecosystem, where users need a durable place to collect webpages, articles, and links instead of leaving them scattered across browser bookmarks, notes, and feeds.
read the full Linkwarden overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Karakeep or Linkwarden more popular?
Karakeep has 29,110 GitHub stars and Linkwarden has 19,787. Karakeep has the larger community by that measure.
Are Karakeep and Linkwarden free?
Both are open source. Karakeep is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Linkwarden under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Karakeep and Linkwarden?
Karakeep is written in TypeScript and Linkwarden in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Karakeep or Linkwarden?
Choose Karakeep if you want the larger community (29,110 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Linkwarden if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.