What People Love About Pocket
Before we get into where Start Page HQ goes further, credit where it's due.
- A polished read-later workflow built up over nearly two decades — easily one of the original and most-loved save-for-later apps.
- A free tier that worked great for most casual users right up to the end.
- Deep Firefox integration that put one-click saving directly in the browser.
- Strong native iOS and Android apps with full offline reading and audio narration.
- A mature reading-list product that genuinely defined the read-later category.
Where Start Page HQ Goes Further
Specific differences, not vague claims.
A Live Product, Not a Sunset One
Pocket shut down on July 8, 2025. User exports closed October 8, 2025. Start Page HQ is actively developed, with new widgets shipping regularly and a long-term roadmap.
Saved Links Live on Your New Tab
Pocket made you open a separate app to see your saved articles. Start Page HQ's Collection and Links widgets sit right on every new tab — your reading list is one keystroke away, no app to launch.
Visual Collections, Not a Flat List
The Collection widget saves URLs and images side-by-side. Use it as a read-later list, a wish list, a research backlog, or a moodboard — Pocket only handled flat reading lists.
Saved Reading Plus 49+ Other Widgets
Pocket was one tool. Start Page HQ ships 50+ widgets — RSS, Hacker News, Substack, weather, calendar, tasks, AI tools, dev utilities. Drop the ones you want onto a single dashboard.
Multi-Page Dashboards by Context
Build a Reading page with your saved articles, RSS, and Substack newsletters. A separate Work page with tasks and calendars. Switch with one click.
Hosted Web App and Browser Extensions
Use startpagehq.com on any browser, or install extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Sync across every device is included on every paid plan.
Side-by-Side Comparison
An honest line-by-line look at how the two stack up.
| Feature | Start Page HQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Discontinued (July 2025) | Actively developed |
| Pricing | N/A (shut down) | $25/yr or $49 lifetime |
| Lives on every new tab | No | Yes |
| Chrome | No | Yes |
| Firefox | No | Yes |
| Safari | No | Yes |
| Edge | No | Yes |
| Hosted web app | No | Yes |
| iOS / Android apps | No | No |
| Cross-device sync | N/A | Included |
| Save URLs | No | Yes |
| Save images | No | Yes |
| Visual collections widget | No | Yes |
| Quick-access Links widget | No | Yes |
| Multi-page dashboards | No | Yes |
| Other widgets (RSS, weather, tasks, etc.) | No | 50+ |
| Offline reading | No | No |
| Audio article narration | No | No |
Widgets That Replace Pocket
Drop these onto your dashboard and you've covered Pocket's core features — plus a lot more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Mozilla shut Pocket down on July 8, 2025. User-data exports remained available until October 8, 2025, after which accounts and data were deleted. There is no path to keep using Pocket itself.
There is no automated importer for Pocket exports today. The Collection widget lets you paste in URLs manually, and the Links widget is designed for fast bulk paste — most ex-Pocket users recreate their top reading queue in 10-15 minutes.
Start Page HQ is independently built and actively developed. The lifetime plan ($49 once) is designed for users who got burned when subscription tools shut down — pay once and the dashboard is yours.
Yes. Sign in once and your saved links, collections, pages, and widgets sync across every browser and device automatically.
No. Start Page HQ does not cache full article content for offline reading the way Pocket did on mobile. If offline reading was your main reason for using Pocket, you may want to pair Start Page HQ with a dedicated reader app like Readwise Reader or Matter.
There is a free public demo at startpagehq.com/demo where you can try every widget without signing up. Full access requires a paid plan: $25/year or $49 one-time. Both plans include all 50+ widgets, cross-device sync, and AI credits.