Alternatives to FreshRSS
A self-hosted feed reader that is light enough to run on a cheap shared host and still handles hundreds of feeds. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
FreshRSS
A self-hosted feed reader that is light enough to run on a cheap shared host and still handles hundreds of feeds.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as FreshRSS.
Tiny Tiny RSS
Long-running self-hosted news aggregator with plugins and filters.
Tiny Tiny RSS is GPL-licensed with plugins and stronger filtering and scoring rules, requires PHP with PostgreSQL or MySQL, and is distributed Docker-first.
Miniflux
A deliberately minimal feed reader: one Go binary, a PostgreSQL database, and no options you do not need.
Miniflux runs as one Go binary with PostgreSQL, strips trackers and offers full-text search and an API, but has deliberately few features and no Windows build.
CommaFeed
Google Reader-inspired self-hosted RSS reader.
CommaFeed is an Apache-licensed Java application with SQLite and a Google Reader interface, with fewer filtering features and a small maintainer team.
Nextcloud News
RSS reader that runs inside a Nextcloud instance.
Nextcloud News runs inside an existing Nextcloud instance, reusing its users and backups, with an API supported by several mobile clients.
selfoss
Web-based aggregator that mashes up RSS and other sources.
selfoss is a small PHP and SQLite aggregator for shared hosting that pulls non-RSS sources through spout plugins, with slow development and a basic interface.
yarr
Read web feeds through a compact self-hostable application.
yarr is a single MIT-licensed executable with a browser interface, needing no PHP or database server, but with a smaller feature set than FreshRSS.
Stringer
Deliberately anti-social self-hosted RSS reader.
Stringer is a simple MIT-licensed Rails reader with no social features, lacking filtering, tagging or mobile apps, and development is largely dormant.
NewsBlur
Open-source cloud RSS reader that learns what you like.
NewsBlur is MIT-licensed and can be self-hosted or used as a freemium cloud service with Android and iOS apps, though self-hosting the stack is substantial.
Also worth comparing
These listings name FreshRSS as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
BazQux Reader
Fast Google Reader-style hosted feed reader that shows comments.
FreshRSS is free AGPL software you host yourself, handling hundreds of feeds, with an API for mobile readers and XPath scraping for sites without feeds.
Bubo Reader
A minimalist static feed reader that builds your RSS, Atom and JSON feeds into one web page.
FreshRSS is a self-hosted AGPL-3.0 reader running on PHP and a database, adding read tracking, API access for mobile apps and XPath scraping, with more upkeep than a static page.
Feedbin
Paid RSS reader that also handles newsletters and YouTube.
FreshRSS is free AGPL software you run yourself on PHP and a database, with an API for mobile readers and XPath scraping for sites lacking feeds.
FeedHQ
Minimal hosted feed reader with an open-source server.
FreshRSS is free AGPL self-hosted software that handles hundreds of feeds, with API support for mobile readers, XPath scraping and WebSub push.
FeedLand
A web-based feed reader and feed management service for reading news and sharing lists of feeds.
FreshRSS is a free AGPL-3.0 reader you host yourself, with API access for mobile apps and XPath scraping, trading hosted sharing features for self-management.
Feedly
Cloud RSS reader with apps, newsletters and AI topic filtering.
FreshRSS is free AGPL software you host yourself, with no algorithm in between, an API for mobile readers and XPath scraping for sites without feeds.
Feeds Fun
A self-hostable news reader that tags feed entries and ranks them with your own scoring rules.
FreshRSS is a lighter self-hosted reader under AGPL-3.0 that works with existing mobile apps through its API, but has no tag-based scoring rules.
Inoreader
Power-user cloud RSS reader with rules, filters and full-text search.
FreshRSS is free AGPL software you host yourself, with an API for existing mobile readers, XPath scraping and WebSub push, but no first-party mobile app.
The Old Reader
Hosted feed reader modelled on the original Google Reader.
FreshRSS is a free AGPL-3.0 self-hosted reader with API support for mobile apps, trading a hosted account for running your own server.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
RSS Guard
A desktop feed reader that also logs into Feedly, Inoreader and self-hosted readers, and plays podcasts.
Nextcloud
A file sync and collaboration server you run yourself, with desktop and mobile clients that behave like Dropbox.
rss-bridge
Generate feeds for websites that do not publish them.
RSSHub
Generates RSS feeds for sites that do not publish one.
NetNewsWire
Free, open-source feed reader for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
NewsFlash
Modern GTK feed reader that also syncs with hosted services.
