A Pocket alternative: bring your saves over, then actually read them

This page is for that moment: where to take it, how to bring it in, and what you get. Doomreader is a read later app built around actually reading what you save: each article becomes short cards you swipe through on your phone, your place is kept, and every card counts toward a daily reading streak, beside your books. If what you mostly need is a big free archive, we say so below, and name the apps that do that better.

Move from Pocket to Doomreader, step by step

Exporting from Pocket is no longer possible, so this works with an export you already downloaded. It takes a minute, and nothing is uploaded: the file is read on your phone or computer.

1. Find the file Pocket gave you. Recent exports came by email as a link to pocket.zip; older ones, from Pocket's old export page, were a single ril_export.html. Check your downloads folder and your email for "Pocket export".
2. Open Doomreader, in the browser at doomreaderapp.com or in the Android app. No account is needed for this.
3. Go to the Library, tap Import, and pick Pocket.
4. Choose the file. A ZIP can be chosen as it is, without unzipping it; every part_000000.csv, part_000001.csv and so on inside is read.
5. Look at what was found before anything is saved: how many links, how many are new and how many you already have. Then tap Save.
6. The articles are saved one at a time in the background, your unread ones first, newest first, so you can start reading straight away. Anything past your allowance is kept in the app, ready to add later.

What carries over: each saved link with its title, the date you saved it (for the order), and whether you had read it. What does not: tags and highlights, which Pocket's CSV export did not include, and the text Pocket had stored, since each article is fetched fresh from its site. A page that has gone from the web since you saved it cannot be fetched again.

Your first import is free: everything in it is saved, and it does not count toward the 25 saves a month you have without Pro. Later imports use those 25, so the rest wait in the app with a count; Pro keeps as many as you like.

Where Pocket is better

• Pocket is gone, so the real comparison is with its successors. Instapaper and Raindrop.io let you save without a monthly cap on their free plans, and Raindrop.io is the most recommended free replacement for a large archive of links.
• Pocket's own recommendations and tags: Doomreader has no tags and does not suggest articles from other people.

Where Doomreader is better

• Reading, not just keeping: each article becomes cards you actually finish, a few screens at a time, and they count toward your daily streak.
• Saving from everywhere Pocket did: a Chrome and Edge extension, Android's share sheet, a bookmark button for any browser, and with Pro a forwarding address for newsletters.
• Articles and books in one place, with free read-aloud and, with AI credits, questions answered from the article itself.

Which to choose

If you mainly need a free archive of thousands of links, Raindrop.io or Instapaper suits you better. If you want to actually read what you saved in Pocket, on your phone, as part of a daily habit, import your export into Doomreader's read later app, starting free. Weighing more than two apps? See the best read later apps.