Instapaper alternatives when reading is not the whole job
Instapaper is still the best plain article reader, so switch only when what you save has stopped being articles. If your saves are a mix of videos, threads, repos and products, use Kyurations, which renders each one in the shape of its source and reads the articles among them in the app. If you want highlights, notes and review, use Readwise Reader. If you want a large tagged archive, use Raindrop.io.
Why people are looking
Instapaper strips a page to text, which is exactly what an essay wants and exactly what a YouTube video, a GitHub repo or a product page does not.
The second reason people move is that a folder of stripped articles is hard to show anyone.
The picks
For collections that are not only articles.
Best for: People saving across a dozen platforms.
Strong at- Each card takes the shape of its platform, so a repo looks like a repo and a track looks like a track
- The long ones still read like Instapaper: full text, own type, no page furniture
- Notes, files and voice notes are first-class items, not attachments
- Publishing is one tap
Weak at- No offline reading
- No unread count working its way down
Instapaper plus highlights, notes and recall.
Best for: Readers who mark up what they read.
Strong at- Excellent highlighting
- Newsletters and PDFs in the same place
Weak at- Heavier than Instapaper
- Paid only
For an archive rather than a queue.
Best for: People with thousands of saves.
Strong at- Unlimited free bookmarks
- Strong search
Weak at- Thin reading view
Questions people ask
- Is Instapaper still maintained?
- Yes. It has outlived most of its competitors, including Pocket, and remains the cleanest article reader available.
- What is better than Instapaper for highlights?
- Readwise Reader. Highlighting is the centre of the product rather than a feature inside it, and highlights export into note apps.
- Can I import my Instapaper saves elsewhere?
- Yes. Instapaper exports a CSV of URLs and folders, which Raindrop, Readwise Reader, Karakeep and Kyurations all accept. Kyurations turns each Instapaper folder into a draft list and keeps the selection you saved as the item's note.