Pocket Alternative: Slax Reader — The Open-Source Pocket Replacement
Pocket shut down July 8, 2025. Slax Reader is an open-source replacement with permanent archives, AI outlines, unlimited highlights — free for founding members.
Mozilla shut Pocket down on July 8, 2025. If you saved hundreds — or thousands — of articles to Pocket over the years, that archive is now in limbo. Mozilla offered a CSV export until October 8, 2025, then deleted user data.
We built Slax Reader as the kind of tool we wished existed when this happened: open source under Apache 2.0, permanent archives free for founding members, AI that helps you actually read what you save. If your reading data outlives apps, you want one that can’t be quietly killed.
This page is for Pocket refugees. Read it if you’re picking your next read-later home.
At a glance
Slax Reader is a clean replacement if…
- You mostly used Pocket for web articles
- You want permanent snapshots so 404s never bite you again
- You want AI that summarizes and navigates long reads
- You’d prefer your next tool be open source so this doesn’t happen twice
Look elsewhere if…
- You used Pocket primarily for podcasts (try Matter or Readwise Reader)
- You need PDF / EPUB as a daily format (Readwise Reader is stronger today)
- You want an Apple-native, one-time-purchase tool (try GoodLinks)
One sentence: Pocket is gone. Slax Reader is the open-source replacement that won’t be.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Pocket (R.I.P.) | Slax Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Status | ⚠️ Shut down July 8, 2025 | ✅ Active, open source |
| Open source | Partial (older versions) | ✅ Apache 2.0, GitHub |
| Web articles | ✅ | ✅ |
| Permanent archives (anti-404) | Premium only | ✅ Free for founding members |
| Unlimited highlights | Premium only | ✅ Free |
| AI summary | ✗ | ✅ Free |
| AI clickable outline | ✗ | ✅ Pro |
| AI chat with article | ✗ | ✅ Pro |
| Auto-tagging | Limited | ✅ |
| Full-text search | Premium only | ✅ Free |
| Reader discussions / shared highlights | ✗ | ✅ Two-way community |
| Cross-platform (Web · iOS · Android · Mac) | ✅ (until shutdown) | ✅ |
| Pocket import | — | 🚧 Roadmap |
| Price | Free / $4.99/mo Premium (until shutdown) | Free / $5.99/mo |
What Just Happened to Pocket?
Mozilla announced Pocket’s shutdown on May 22, 2025, citing “low active usage.” The app stopped accepting new saves on July 8, 2025. Users had until October 8, 2025 to export their library as a CSV file. After that, Mozilla deleted everything.
This is the part most people missed: the CSV export is just URLs and metadata, not the article content itself. If a saved page goes 404 — and many will, over the years — your CSV is just a tombstone. The article itself is gone.
This is why permanent snapshots aren’t a “nice to have” feature. They’re the difference between a real archive and a list of dead links.
What Slax Reader Does Differently
Permanent snapshots, free
Every article you save into Slax Reader gets a full HTML + image snapshot stored on our servers. If the source goes 404, your copy stays. Founding members get unlimited permanent snapshots forever, free. This was the most-requested Pocket Premium feature. We made it the default.
Open source
Slax Reader’s code is public on GitHub under Apache 2.0 — frontend (Vue), backend (TypeScript), Android client (Kotlin). If we ever shut down (we won’t, we’re a 20-year-old team using this ourselves daily), you can self-host. If you don’t trust us with your reading data, you can read the code that handles it.
After the Pocket and Omnivore shutdowns, this isn’t paranoia anymore. It’s the only durable answer.
AI that actually helps
Pocket never shipped meaningful AI. Slax Reader does:
- Clickable AI outline — see the structure of a 5,000-word piece in 10 seconds, jump to the section that matters
- AI summary — bulleted, ~100 words, free
- AI chat — ask “what’s the counter-argument to this section?” without leaving the article
- Auto-tagging — Slax learns your tag system and applies it for you
The reading discussions you couldn’t have on Pocket
Slax Reader has a built-in two-way community layer: highlight a sentence, leave a note, see what others have annotated. If you used to share Pocket articles to friends and lose the conversation, this is what we replaced that with.
Migrating from Pocket
If you exported your Pocket CSV before October 8, 2025: keep it. Pocket import is on our roadmap. We’ll re-fetch each article URL into a fresh Slax permanent snapshot, preserve your tags and dates, and email you when it’s ready.
Drop your email → and we’ll ping you the day Pocket import ships.
If you missed the CSV deadline: the URLs are gone, but you’re not stuck. Sign up at r.slax.com, start saving new articles into Slax Reader today as a founding member, and lock in unlimited permanent snapshots before that perk goes away. Your next 5 years of reading will be safe even if the past few are not.
Other Pocket alternatives we considered
If Slax Reader isn’t quite right for you, the rest of the field:
- Instapaper — Eighteen years of polished minimalism. No AI, but quiet and stable. See comparison →
- Readwise Reader — Bigger Swiss Army knife: PDF, EPUB, YouTube transcripts. $9.99–$12.99/mo bundle. See comparison →
- Cubox — Polished, organization-heavy, strong for Chinese content. See comparison →
- Matter — Apple-only, beautiful iOS / Mac native experience.
- Raindrop.io — Visual bookmark management, good if you save more than you read.
One Last Thing
Pocket shutting down hurt because it had been free, ubiquitous, and Mozilla-backed for years. People assumed it would always be there.
We don’t make that assumption. Our team has been running our business for almost 20 years. Slax Reader is what we use ourselves every single day, built lean on purpose, and the code is on GitHub so you don’t have to take our word for any of this.
FAQ
Can I import my old Pocket library? If you have a CSV from before Mozilla deleted things on October 8, 2025: yes, Pocket import is on our roadmap. Drop your email for ship-day notification. If you missed the export window: the URLs are gone, but you can start fresh in Slax with permanent snapshots from day one.
Is Slax Reader really free? Yes. Permanent archives, unlimited highlights, comments, full-text search, and basic AI summary are free for founding members — forever. Pro ($5.99/mo) unlocks the clickable AI outline, advanced AI chat, and semantic search.
What if Slax Reader shuts down too? The full code is on GitHub under Apache 2.0. You can self-host the backend. If you’ve been burned by a shutdown before, this is the only real protection.
Will my saved articles still be there in 5 years? Yes. Permanent snapshots mean we save the full original page on save. Even if the source goes 404, your copy stays. This is the core of who we are.
What about my privacy? We don’t sell data. Reading data is yours. See our privacy policy.
Try Slax Reader for Free
If you’ve been hopping between read-later apps after Pocket, looking for a stable home:
Join as a Founding Member today: get 1 month of Pro free (check pricing) and keep your unlimited snapshots forever.