FAQ
The questions people ask first.
- What does “archived” actually mean?
- The moment you save a link, Bindle fetches the page from its own servers, keeps the HTML, extracts the text and indexes it. From then on you have two things: the bookmark, which points at the live page, and the archive, which is your copy. Search runs over the copy. When the original moves, gets paywalled or disappears, press A on the bookmark and the copy opens — the same words, dated the day you saved it.
- Does the archive keep images, video or styling?
- No. Bindle stores the page’s original HTML and the extracted text, and the text is what gets searched and shown. Images, CSS and scripts are not saved. It is an archive of what the page said, not a pixel-perfect snapshot — that keeps copies small, fast to search and readable in ten years.
- Can it archive pages behind a paywall or login?
- Only what an anonymous visitor can see. The fetch comes from Bindle’s servers, not your browser, so it never has your cookies or subscriptions. If a site shows the full article to logged-out readers, you get the full article; if it shows a teaser, you get the teaser. Bindle does not circumvent paywalls, and the terms say so.
- Are my archived copies public?
- Never. A copy is visible only to accounts that saved the same URL. Public bookmarks and lists expose the original link, your title, notes and tags — not the stored page. Nothing you archive is ever republished.
- Is there a free plan?
- No. Every account gets fourteen days free with no card, and after that there is one plan at twenty dollars a year with everything in it. A free tier has to be paid for by someone, and on the web that someone is usually the user — through ads, tracking or a sold-off company. A small, honest price is what lets Bindle plan in decades instead of quarters. Pricing →
- What happens when my trial ends?
- Your library goes read-only. Everything you saved stays searchable and exportable for as long as you like; you just can’t save anything new until you subscribe. Nothing is deleted and nothing is held hostage.
- Can I cancel? Is there a refund?
- Cancel any time from Settings and you keep access until the year you paid for runs out. If you ask within thirty days of paying, you get a full refund, no questions.
- How do I save a page?
- Whichever way is closest to hand: press N inside Bindle and paste a link; drag the bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar and click it on any page; install the small browser extension; on a phone, share the page to Bindle from the share sheet. Scripts and agents can use the HTTP API or the MCP server. All roads end in the same archive.
- Is there a mobile app?
- Not a native one. Bindle is a web app that works on a phone, and it registers as a share target, so “Share → Bindle” from any browser saves the page. Add it to your home screen and it behaves like an app.
- Can I import from Pocket, Pinboard, Raindrop or my browser?
- Yes. Bindle imports the standard browser bookmarks HTML file (which is also what Pinboard and Delicious export), JSON exports, and the CSV from Pocket, Raindrop or Instapaper. Tags, notes, private flags and original save dates come across intact, and Bindle starts archiving the whole lot as soon as the import lands. Switching guides →
- Can I get my data out?
- Always, in one click from Settings: a complete export of every bookmark, tag and note. There is also an HTTP API that speaks the long-established delicious vocabulary, so existing Pinboard tools keep working, and an RSS feed for any view. If Bindle ever had to shut down, you would get months of notice and a full export first.
- Is there a limit on how much I can save?
- Bookmarks are unlimited. Archiving is capped at 2,000 pages per account per day, which is there to stop the importer or the API being used as a general-purpose crawler — a large import simply archives over a couple of days.
- What’s the difference between tags and lists?
- Tags are how you file: stack as many as you like on a bookmark, bundle related tags into sections, rename or merge one across your whole library in a move. Lists are how you publish: a curated, ordered selection with a line on why each link is there, which gets its own page, its own feed and a follow button. Tags file; lists publish.
- What are private bookmarks?
- A bookmark marked private is visible only to you and through your private feed URL. Public bookmarks appear on your profile, your public feed and the Popular page. Either way the archived copy is private.
- Does Bindle know which links have died?
- Yes. Every link is checked when Bindle fetches it and again over time, and the ones that have rotted are flagged in your library. You’ll know a page is gone — and you’ll still have it.
- Can I share everything I’ve tagged something?
- Yes — every public tag has a URL you can hand-type: bindle.link/u/you/t/tagname, and combine with commas (t/history,maps) for links that carry all of them. It shows your public bookmarks with that tag, newest first, with an RSS feed. A tag that starts with a dot is private and has no page. When a tag page should become a proper reading list — ordered, with a note per link — one click copies it into a list you can edit.
- What is the MCP server, and do I need it?
- You don’t need it; it’s there if you use an AI assistant. Bindle is a remote MCP server, so Claude Code or any MCP client can search your library, read the full archived text of a page, save links and build lists on your behalf. Add https://bindle.link/mcp as a connector in claude.ai and sign in, or use the API token from Settings with Claude Code; the eighteen tools are documented in llms.txt. llms.txt →
- Do you track me or show ads?
- No ads, no ad trackers, no analytics on your saved pages, no selling or sharing data, and nothing in your library is used to train anything. The only third party that sees anything is the error reporter, which gets a stack trace when Bindle breaks — never your bookmarks. Privacy →
- Who runs Bindle?
- One independent developer, funded entirely by subscribers. No investors expecting a growth curve, no acquisition on the horizon. That is a deliberate choice: two of the services on the landing page’s memorial existed specifically to save links for you, and both were folded by their owners. About →
- How do I get help?
- Email support@bindle.link. Replies usually come within a business day. Include the URL involved and roughly when it happened, and it will be fixed faster. Contact →
Something not answered here? Email is the fastest route.