Both Instapaper and Pocket are two of the best read it later apps as of now. They both are quite similar in nature. You can use any of these apps or websites to save the articles, links and videos clutter free and view them without any distractions. You can install Chrome extensions for Instapaper as well as Pocket to save the links in your desktop browsers. So, what makes these apps different from each other? Let’s find out in this Instapaper vs Pocket comparison.
Contents
Difference Between Instapaper And Pocket
1. Structure
The structuring of the saved articles is based upon Folders in Instapaper. You can add your own folders to organize all the articles or videos. Whenever you are saving any link to Instapaper through the mobile phone, you can directly specify to which folder would you like to add that particular link.
Whereas in Pocket, the structuring works on the basis of Tags. You can assign tags to every link so that it will be easy for you to find those links again instead of searching through folders. The main difference here is that searching works faster in case of Tags as compared to folders.
Note – You will only notice this difference when you have bookmarked a lot of links.
Winner – Pocket
2. Sharing
Instapaper and Pocket both have the options to share the saved links on multiple social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Gmail, Twitter DM, Drive, and many more. But using Pocket, you can instantly share those links with your friend who also uses Pocket.
Whereas, there is no such feature in Instapaper.
Winner – Pocket
3. Copying
Whenever you copy any link in the browser or any other app, it can be saved to Pocket as soon as you open it. The link is automatically copied to the clipboard and a pop up will ask you whether you want to save that link for later or not. Although it may sound like a very basic advantage but believe me, it can save you a lot of time.
There is no such option in Instapaper. You have to copy and paste the links manually.
Winner – Pocket
4. Search
This one was shocking. Instapaper does not allow searching for free. You will have to buy the premium version for accessing this feature in Instapaper. Whereas, Pocket allows searching either by the title of the article or the URL for free. Still, something is better than nothing.
Winner – Pocket
Also Read: Facebook vs Facebook Lite
5. Instapaper Premium vs Pocket Premium
The premium version of Instapaper will cost you $2.99 per month and $29.99 per year. After buying this product, you can start enjoying the benefits of searching any text that you want from all the saved articles, speed reading, and converting text to speech so that you can sit back, listen and chill. You will also be able to use unlimited notes which is obviously better than 5 limited free notes per month.
Buying the premium Pocket version will cost you $4.99 per month and $44.99 yearly, which is a bit expensive as compared to its competitor. Anyways, after paying the price, you can get access to some amazing features like powerful search which is better than Instapaper’s text search. Here you can search by text, topics, tags and even the author’s name. Apart from these features, you can also enjoy completely ads free experience along with suggested tags and unlimited highlights.
Winner – Tie
6. Reading
Coming to the reading experience, there are a lot of options when reading an article on Instapaper.
- You can change the font of the text from the available list.
- Highlighting any important text is pretty easy.
- Like any post so that you can read it later.
- Archive any post that you have already read.
- Attach notes in the article itself.
- Find the meaning of any word using Wiktionary.
Whereas in Pocket:
- You can Highlight any text.
- Archive the completed articles.
- Search any text on the web form this app.
Clearly, Instapaper focuses more on better reading experience for users than Pocket.
Winner – Instapaper
Who Won?
Overall Winner – Pocket
Cleary, when counting overall features, Pocket has the upper hand in Instapaper vs Pocket comparison. It allows some simpler features that can prove to be a lifesaver in the day to day life. But if you want a reading experience in a better way then Instapaper is ahead of Pocket as of now. And even its premium version is a bit cheaper than Pocket.
