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Highlights & Notes 2 alternatives tracked

Open-source alternatives to Readwise

Readwise is a tool for reviewing and retaining highlights from books, articles, Kindle, and web sources, using spaced repetition to resurface saved highlights periodically. Its Reader product (Readwise Reader) combines read-it-later with annotation. Teams and individuals use it to build a personal reading inbox and connect highlights to their note-taking system.

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The alternatives

omnivore

★ 16,052 TypeScript AGPL-3.0

Omnivore is a complete, open source read-it-later solution for people who like reading.

omnivore-app/omnivore Updated 2026-03-26

wallabag

★ 12,667 PHP MIT

wallabag is a self hostable application for saving web pages: Save and classify articles. Read them later. Freely.

wallabag/wallabag Updated 2026-05-05

Comparison notes

Omnivore (AGPL) covers the read-it-later and annotation aspects of Readwise Reader. Wallabag covers article saving and reading. The spaced repetition highlight resurfacing feature — Readwise's core differentiator — has no direct self-hosted OSS equivalent. Logseq and Obsidian can store and review highlights manually, and plugins exist for importing Readwise exports, but neither replicates the daily review email with SR algorithm. Implementing a full SR-based highlight resurfacing system requires custom development.

Migration tips

  • Export all your Readwise highlights as CSV or Markdown from the Readwise export page
  • Import the Markdown export into Obsidian or Logseq for searchable highlight storage
  • Set up Omnivore as a Readwise Reader replacement for future read-it-later and web annotation
  • For Kindle highlights, configure the Kindle → Readwise → target workflow to Kindle → Readwise Export → Obsidian instead
  • Spaced repetition review must be self-managed without Readwise's daily digest feature — schedule time for highlight review manually or use Anki for flashcard-based review of key passages

FAQ

Can I fully replace Readwise with an OSS tool?

Feature parity varies. Most OSS alternatives cover 70-90% of core workflows, but may lack polish, integrations, or specialized features. Pilot the alternative with a subset of your team before fully committing.

What's the cost of self-hosting?

Plan for ~$5-50/month in VPS costs (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, etc.) plus 2-8 hours/month in maintenance. For a team of 20+, self-hosting usually breaks even against SaaS pricing within 6-12 months.

Which alternative should I pick?

Sort by GitHub stars (a proxy for community health), check the last-pushed date (avoid unmaintained projects), and read recent issues to gauge responsiveness.