Karakeep vs mymind: Which is better? (2026)
The short answer
Karakeep wins for self-hosters who want free AI bookmarking on their own server; mymind wins for visual thinkers happy to pay for a beautiful, zero-maintenance canvas. Decide by whether you would rather run Docker or pay $7.99+/month.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Karakeep | mymind | Marqly |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI auto-tagging | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Semantic search (find by meaning) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI summaries | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| YouTube AI (summary, chat, transcript) | — | — | ✓ |
| Chat with your saves | — | — | ✓ |
| Web highlighter | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Notes on highlights | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Save page as PDF | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full-text search | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Save all open tabs | — | — | ✓ |
| Public sharing (boards/collections) | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Pocket import | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Browser bookmarks import | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Offline reading | ✓ | — | — |
| iOS app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android app | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Browser extension | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free tier | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public API | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Self-hostable | ✓ | — | — |
| Price | Free · Self-hosted: free. Karakeep Cloud Pro: $4/month | Free · The Bookmarker $4.99/mo; Student of Life $7.99/mo or $79/yr; Mastermind $12.99/mo or $129/yr | Free · $48/year (≈$4/mo) or $8/month |
- Karakeep
- Free · Self-hosted: free. Karakeep Cloud Pro: $4/month
- mymind
- Free · The Bookmarker $4.99/mo; Student of Life $7.99/mo or $79/yr; Mastermind $12.99/mo or $129/yr
- Marqly
- Free · $48/year (≈$4/mo) or $8/month
Pricing
- Karakeep: Karakeep has a free tier; paid plans are Self-hosted: free. Karakeep Cloud Pro: $4/month. The self-hosted app is fully free and open source; AI features need your own OpenAI-compatible API key or a local Ollama model. Karakeep Cloud (public beta) has a $0 tier capped at 10 bookmarks and a Pro tier at $4/month — the exact annual price is not published.
- mymind: mymind has a free tier; paid plans are The Bookmarker $4.99/mo; Student of Life $7.99/mo or $79/yr; Mastermind $12.99/mo or $129/yr. Every account starts on a free "guest plan" capped at 100 cards — free forever, not a timed trial. AI tagging starts on Student of Life; AI summaries, reading mode, article backup, and the PDF analyzer require Mastermind. The Bookmarker tier has no AI features.
- Marqly: Marqly has a free tier; paid plans are $48/year (≈$4/mo) or $8/month. 7-day free trial of Pro. Free tier needs no card; Pro unlocks chat with saves and video chat.
About Karakeep
Karakeep is an open-source "bookmark everything" app, launched as Hoarder and renamed in early 2025. It is built for self-hosting: a Docker install stores links, notes, images, videos, and PDFs on your own server, with full-page archiving to guard against link rot. AI does the filing — automatic tagging and summaries run through any OpenAI-compatible API or a local Ollama model, so nothing has to leave your machine. Search is Meilisearch-backed full text, with semantic and hybrid modes added in 2026. Around the core are browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, iOS and Android apps with offline reading, highlights, shareable public lists with RSS feeds, a REST API, and an MCP server for AI agents. Imports cover Pocket, browser bookmark HTML, Omnivore, Instapaper, Linkwarden, and mymind exports. A hosted Karakeep Cloud is in public beta, with a Pro tier at $4 per month.
About mymind
mymind is a private, visual saving tool that calls itself "the extension of your mind." Everything you save — bookmarks, images, quotes, notes, PDFs — lands as a card on one searchable visual canvas. There are no folders and no manual filing: AI tags each card automatically and recognizes objects, colors, brands, and text inside images, so you retrieve things by describing what you remember. The product is deliberately single-player: nothing is shareable, there are no social features or ads, and the company is funded only by memberships. Apps cover the web, Mac, iOS, and Android, with extensions for Chrome, Edge, and Safari. Every account starts on a free 100-card guest plan; paid plans run from $4.99 to $12.99 per month, with AI summaries, reading mode, and a PDF analyzer reserved for the top Mastermind tier. A read/write API entered beta in mid-2026. Bulk import is deliberately unsupported.
Which should you choose?
Karakeep and mymind sit at opposite ends of the control spectrum. Karakeep is open source and self-hosted: a Docker install keeps every bookmark, image, and PDF on your own server, archives full pages against link rot, and runs AI tagging and summaries through any OpenAI-compatible API or a local Ollama model. mymind is a closed, polished cloud service built around a single visual canvas — no folders, no manual filing, and AI that recognizes objects, colors, brands, and text inside the images you save. Both reject hand-organizing; they disagree about who holds your data and who does the sysadmin work.
Choose Karakeep if:
- You want full ownership at zero cost — the self-hosted app is free forever and your library lives in your own database.
- You need migration paths and sharing: Karakeep imports Pocket, browser HTML, even mymind exports, and publishes shareable public lists with RSS feeds.
- Link rot worries you — page copies, screenshots, PDFs, and video downloads mean a dead URL no longer means lost content.
Choose mymind if:
- Docker, API keys, and server maintenance are precisely what you are trying to avoid — mymind works the moment you sign up.
- Your saves skew visual: image recognition that makes screenshots and inspiration searchable by what is in them is mymind’s standout trick.
- The hard privacy stance appeals — no ads, no tracking, no social layer, funded solely by memberships.
The bottom line is cost and lock-in. mymind’s AI starts at $7.99/month, summaries sit behind the $12.99 Mastermind tier, bulk import is refused by design, and export is a one-way CSV that only works from desktop Chrome or Edge. Karakeep is free with open exports in JSON or Netscape HTML — but that freedom is paid for in setup time. Tinkerers should self-host Karakeep; people who want their saving tool to feel like a finished product should pay for mymind.
The option both sides overlook
If the real problem is finding things again, neither Karakeep nor mymind fully solves it. Marqly auto-tags and summarizes every save with AI and lets you retrieve any of them by describing what you remember — plus a highlighter, YouTube summaries with transcripts, and save-as-PDF. There's a free tier with no card required.
Karakeep vs mymind FAQ
Can I migrate from mymind to Karakeep?
In one direction, yes. mymind's account page exports your files plus a cards.csv (desktop Chrome or Edge only), and Karakeep's importer accepts mymind exports alongside Pocket, browser HTML, Omnivore, and Instapaper. Going the other way is impossible: mymind supports no bulk import of any kind — a deliberate design decision, not a missing feature.
Which is cheaper, Karakeep or mymind?
Karakeep, decisively. Self-hosted, it costs nothing beyond your server and optional AI API usage, and the hosted Karakeep Cloud Pro runs $4/month. mymind's free guest plan caps at 100 cards; AI tagging starts at $7.99/month (Student of Life), AI summaries require the $12.99/month Mastermind tier, and the $4.99 Bookmarker tier includes no AI at all.
Do Karakeep and mymind both have AI tagging and search?
Yes — both auto-tag saves, generate AI summaries, and offer semantic search. The difference is how you pay: Karakeep uses your own OpenAI-compatible API key or a free local Ollama model, while mymind bundles AI into its higher subscription tiers. mymind's edge is image intelligence — it recognizes objects, colors, brands, and text inside pictures.