I compare stuff, for you

This guide will hopefully inform you of the apps/tools available for saving bookmarks/websites, and will then help you decide based on how you use your current bookmark tool.

The contenders

Regular, delicious-style bookmarking

• Diigo (also supports powerful research features)
• Google Bookmarks (import bookmarks here)
• Pinboard (import bookmarks here)
• Mister Wong
• Your browsers bookmarks tool  + Xmarks/Mozilla Weave/Chrome Sync/MobileMe (check this out for a cool bookmarking strategy that I wish I had used from the start)

Other tools

• Historious
• Instapaper
• Zootool
• Evernote (ever popular for taking notes, Evernote can easily be used for bookmarks too - import from delicious by following this)

• BlinkList
• Faves
• Connotea (aimed at professional researchers)
• favbot (worth looking at once they open up some more invites - it bookmarks stuff automatically without the need to do anything. I wonder if they take into account the amount of time you spend on a page?)
• favilous 
• faviki

Other notes:

• If you are leaving Delicious, export your bookmarks here

Now, here's how to decide

If you just want a replacement to Delicious, that works mostly the same way:

• Sign up to Pinboard if you are happy paying $~9 to signup (I think it's worth it)
• Sign up to Mister Wong if you don't want to pay anything

If you want a simple and free tool, that uses folders and works almost like your browsers bookmarks but is online:

• Google bookmarks

If you will be saving a lot of rich content, like images and videos:

• Check out Zootool

If you are happy bookmarking in your browser:

• Check out one of Xmarks/Mozilla Weave/Chrome Sync/MobileMe to sync your bookmarks and safeguard against data loss (Xmarks - any, Weave - Firefox, Chrome Sync - Chrome, MobileMe - Safari)

If you tend to bookmark pages, and never look at them again through your bookmarks, and would rather search to find stuff:

• Historious

If you rarely bookmark stuff, and when you do it is usually stuff you want to read:

• Instapaper

If you are bookmarking for research purposes (not necessarily academic research, this could mean research for a blog post you want to write):

• Check out Diigo
• Check out Evernote

Don't feel limited to one tool, as you can certainly combine multiple apps.

As for me, I think I will use a combination of Historious (or possibly favbot once I try them out) and Evernote or Diigo.

To view the guide (it is a google spreadsheet), click here

To edit, just login to your google account and click 'make a copy' in the menu, or if you don't want to login click download as, and then edit it in Excel, OpenOffice, etc.

Interpreting your result:

Evernote

Evernote is fantastic as a capture tool, or a personal wiki tool. Personally, I think that if you are a bit of a geek like me and love productivity tricks, it would be worth using another tool in combination with Evernote. I use Evernote as an inbox for my notes and research, and then use org-mode for task related notes (as org-mode also serves as my task manager - and on that note, I have considered comparing task managers, so if you would like that, tell me!).

Interestingly, an open source clone of the Evernote client now exists, and is aimed at providing a client for Linux. Check out 'Nevernote'.

Springpad

Perfect for adding products to, and has great mobile apps. Watch out if you don't have a supported smartphone (Android/iOS) and need to use it without an internet connection though.

Simplenote

As the name clearly states, this tool is just for simple, text only notes. So if that is all you want to save, then it should be fantastic! 

Check out the clients available here.

Org-mode

Terrific tool if you already use emacs or are considering using emacs, as you can attain ninja-like speed thanks to keyboard shortcuts and the powerfulness of emacs.

It would be worth either holding your org files in a backedup or synced directory (works great with Dropbox), or using them with version control (git) to save changes and keep it backed up. Also, MobileOrg (iOS/Android) uses Dropbox to connect to org-mode, so Dropbox works rather well in combination with org.

Catch (formerly Snaptic/3Banana)

Similar to simplenote - should not disappoint for plaintext notes. 

Dropbox + texteditor/client

Have a look for the various clients that can sync notes with Dropbox. On all smartphones, there should either be a dedicated texteditor for dropbox (such as Elements for iOS), or a dropbox app (that should allow editing of text files).

Note: If you use Notational Velocity, don't combine Dropbox and Simplenote sync.

Paper/Moleskine

A very popular method. The main downside is difficulty of backup and search, but for many the benefits outweight the costs.

Onenote

Fantastic if you are a Windows user - the way notes are created just feels good, with the ability to type anywhere and insert files.

Tomboy, Zim, BasKet

Suggestions? Improvements? Please, please, let me know, right now (in the comments, or you know, anywhere)! 

If you are happy that I made this, make me happier and fill out a few questions to help me learn how to make you happy with more stuff like this!

Note: I may change how the guide is presented and not use the current spreadsheet, so if you are linking to this please link to the page and not directly to the spreadsheet. Also, please don't take/modify the content without permission, but feel free to ask.

I don't want to waste your time, so the cheatsheet that tells you if you should read this is below and should only take 30 seconds.

Is it worth voting? Yes, if: you currently use or are considering using a note app, task manager, bookmarking tool, read later app, or other app, and would be interested in learning which one was best (for you - not just the overall 'best').

Is it worth commenting/reading? Yes, if you really want to get the best app

Is it worth helping me out (voting on HN, joining the mailing list)? Yes, if: you really, really want one of these compared, or you want something compared not on the list, or you love helping people when it makes them (and you) happy

How to read this post (go slowly, from top to bottom)

0. Decide that you need to vote. Why? Because choosing stuff sucks, and I'll make it easier.

1. Vote in the poll - I will spend 30seconds writing the guide per vote this poll gets (if it is suffering in the flow -> send an upvote -> more votes on the poll -> more time on the guide -> you win)

If your preference wasn't there, tell me what you want

2. Get notified when a winner is chosen however you want! Pick from email, twitter, or rss 

3. To say thanks, I would love a donation, or for the cheap, donate me an upvote

4. ????

5. PROFIT (from all the time you will save not having to search Evernote vs Springpad)!

When choosing almost any product, I generally end up with a spreadsheet or text file listing the possible alternatives, and then I try out anything that looks promising, until I can rest peacefully knowing that I am using the best one.

What tools do you use to compare? Click below and let me know ;).

Are you a comparison geek who spends heaps of time on this just like I do? If you are and have 30 seconds to spare, you should definitely get involved.