3 Best XMarks Alternatives For Bookmarks Synchronization Across Multiple Browsers

XMarks AlternativesXMarks Alternatives

XMarks was a bookmarks synchronization service that could be used to synchronize your bookmarks across multiple browsers and devices. I used “was” because LogMeIn discontinued XMarks on 1st May 2018.

In this article, we will discuss about the best XMarks alternatives available for bookmarks synchronization across multiple browsers and platforms.

XMarks synchronization
XMarks synchronization

In today’s world, using multiple web browsers is a norm. But it can get problematic when you have to synchronize your data across all the browsers you are using.

Of course, you can manually use the browser’s import and export facility for synchronizing the data but it’s always the most efficient solution.

Let’s first discuss about the best XMarks alternatives available online for bookmarks synchronization and then we’ll do the actual migration of bookmarks from XMarks to other services.

Best XMarks Alternatives

Start.me

Start.me - the best xmarks alternative
Start.me – the best Xmarks alternative

Start.me is more of an all-in-one service that offers a widget-based start page where you can configure different widgets for news, notes, RSS feeds, bookmarks, and other widgets which include weather, email, calendar, todo-list, etc.

The interface is quite user-friendly and adding new blocks/widgets is easily done using a single “+” button. The user can use drag and drop interface for organizing blocks and widgets on the homepage.

The drawback of Start.me is that it does not synchronize the browser bookmarks. You will need to add bookmarks inside the Start.me extension to synchronize with the Start.me account.

Raindrop.io

Raindrop.io is another bookmarks synchronization service that is very much like Start.me. But apart from the traditional bookmarks, it can save and organize other types of data like articles, photos, screenshots, etc.

Raindrop.io - all in one bookmarks manager
Raindrop.io – all-in-one bookmarks manager

Raindrop.io gives users an easier way to organize with auto-suggest tags, thematic collections, bulk operations, etc.

Once installed an extension on your browser, you can easily access your synchronized bookmarks from the toolbar icon.

The only thing that I didn’t like about Raindrop.io was that it didn’t automatically synchronize the browser bookmarks. For automatic synchronization, you will need to save your bookmarks using the Raindrop.io extension.

RoboForm

RoboForm password manager and bookmarks sync
RoboForm password manager and bookmarks sync

RoboForm is advertised as a password manager and digital wallet but it can synchronize bookmarks as well. It is the best combination for any user to have passwords and bookmarks together on every device.

RoboForm is free to use if you don’t want to synchronize all your data across all devices. Otherwise, you can get the Pro license which is only $19.95/year and includes automatic synchronization and other features.

Other Alternatives to XMarks for Bookmarks Synchronization

I have tried many other XMarks alternatives for bookmarks synchronization, but they were very complex or lacked basic functionality in their free versions. That is why I have not included them in the above list.

Here is the list of bookmark sync tools and services that I have tried:

How to Migrate from XMarks to Any Other Service Smoothly

Migrating from XMarks to any other service mentioned above is easy. From the XMarks account, you can export your bookmarks in the form of an HTML file which can be imported to any bookmark synchronization service.

Just follow the general steps below for smooth migration:

  1. Go to https://my.xmarks.com/

  2. From the Tools menu, select “Export bookmarks to HTML.”

    3 Best XMarks Alternatives For Bookmarks Synchronization Across Multiple Browsers 2
    Export bookmarks from Xmarks
  3. Save the downloaded HTML file.

  4. Import the HTML file to any other service using the import feature.

Final Conclusion

While I can’t find any service which is the same as XMarks, I prefer to use RoboForm which can save my passwords as well as bookmarks and notes securely.

How do you back up or synchronize your bookmarks across browsers?

If you liked this post, Share it on:

Get Updates in Your Inbox

Sign up for the regular updates and be the first to know about the latest tech information

Usman Khurshid
Usman Khurshid is a seasoned IT Pro with over 15 years of experience in the IT industry. He has experience in everything from IT support, helpdesk, sysadmin, network admin, and cloud computing. He is also certified in Microsoft Technologies (MCTS and MCSA) and also Cisco Certified Professional in Routing and Switching.

7 comments

  • GraniteStateColin
    GraniteStateColin

    I loved Xmarks and miss it. There’s nothing that replaces what Xmarks did. I have found RoboForm to be the best replacement overall. I did try all of these options and several others. Only RoboForm worked well with Windows 10 and its default browser, Edge. If you’re going to use a cross-browser system, then presumably the default browser is at least one of the browsers you want to support, even if it’s not your main browser. Plus, the latest iterations of Edge work spectacularly well with Windows 10.

    The others seemed like abandonware, at least on Windows 10. They appeared not to have been updated since the XP days, with no support for Edge, touch, the Notification area, or anything.

    Because I blamed LastPass for dropping support for Xmarks, and RoboForm was first and foremost a password manager, I have also shifted from LastPass to RoboForm for password management. This was a simple process – RoboForm imported all my LastPass data in a few seconds. Now I have 1 program to do everything. That’s a nice consolidation.

    RoboForm still doesn’t do what made Xmarks special – syncing the bookmarks with the native bookmark/favorite system of each browser. Instead, it keeps its own Bookmarks list you access by clicking on the RoboForm icon near the address bar. This is not as good as the native bookmark/favorite experience because you can’t choose the sort order of the bookmarks within each folder (they’re always sorted alphabetically). The icons for each are also smaller than in some browsers, but it does show the favicon for each bookmark.

    If you really want to sync back to the Browser, RoboForm does support exporting Bookmarks to HTML, from which point all the browsers can import it. That’s not a real sync, but may be better than nothing for some.

    To Bonfire’s question, no, I don’t think it supports profiles, but you can create as many top-level folders as you want and copy bookmarks or subfolders between them. So you could have a work folder and a home folder, and duplicate any bookmarks you use in both places.

    • Usman Khurshid
      A
      Usman Khurshid

      Hi GraniteStateColin, thanks for sharing your experience in so much detail. Roboform is certainly the best choice if you want a paid solution. But most people will shy away from paid alternatives and will look for something free with similar functionality. One other alternative that I have my eyes on is Syncmarx. It is very similar to XMarks but it’s still in its early development stages. It can’t synchronize tags, descriptions etc but the bookmarks are synchronized. I will wait for its stable release.

      But if anyone is looking for an all in one solution, nothing beats Roboform.

      • GraniteStateColin
        GraniteStateColin

        Ah, I see that Syncmarx is currently only looking at Chrome and Firefox. One of the key strengths that made Xmarks great was the range of browsers it support (what’s the point of cross-browser syncing that only supports 2 browsers?) It included those two, plus all the OS browsers Edge, IE, and Safari. It also worked fine with Opera (though Syncmarx may too, because generally Opera runs Chrome extensions). I did post a note to the Syncmarx developer asking to add support for MS Edge. That would be critical to my using it.

      • GraniteStateColin
        GraniteStateColin

        Thanks. I never heard of Syncmarx. I’ll look forward to checking that out.

  • Bonfire
    Bonfire

    Helpful article, thanks. But can you tell me if any of them have a profiles feature like xmarks did? I liked being able to have different subsets of my bookmarks on work and home computers.

  • gcjuan

    The most similar for me was to use Eversync (https://www.everhelper.me/synchronizer.php) in order to synchronize all my local bookmarks between web browsers. It works almost like Xmarks and has auto-sync (every 30 minutes) and addons for Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, iOS, Android and Windows Phone. For me it’s the best alternative I’ve found so far.

  • Mike K

    I would also suggest Bookmark OS! It’s like Mac or Windows for bookmarks. https://bookmarkos.com

Leave a Reply to GraniteStateColin (Cancel Reply)