CommaFeed vs RSS-proxy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
CommaFeed
Google Reader-inspired self-hosted RSS reader
VS
RSS-proxy
Turn any website into an RSS, Atom, or JSON feed
| Feature | CommaFeed | RSS-proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 20 · At risk |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Java | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,626 | ★ 1,923 |
| First released | 2013 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Google Reader | Feedly |
What are CommaFeed and RSS-proxy?
CommaFeed
CommaFeed is a self-hosted RSS reader inspired by the look and feel of the discontinued Google Reader. It targets users who miss the classic Google Reader experience. It is deployed via Docker.
- Google Reader-style interface
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Multi-user support
- REST API
RSS-proxy
RSS-proxy is an open-source tool that generates RSS, Atom, or JSON feeds from websites that do not offer them, by analyzing page markup to detect article lists. It runs as a self-hosted service via Docker; its successor project is feedless.
- Creates feeds from any page
- JSON and Atom output
- Self-hosted aggregation
CommaFeed vs RSS-proxy: key differences
CommaFeed is written in Java, while RSS-proxy is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for CommaFeed versus MIT for RSS-proxy. RSS-proxy is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for CommaFeed. CommaFeed is the more established project (first released 2013), while RSS-proxy arrived in 2019.
Why pick each one
Choose CommaFeed if…
- Familiar classic layout
- Easy to deploy
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Java runtime overhead
- Fewer advanced features
Choose RSS-proxy if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is CommaFeed or RSS-proxy better?
CommaFeed is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider RSS-proxy if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are CommaFeed and RSS-proxy free and open-source?
Yes. CommaFeed is licensed under Apache-2.0 and RSS-proxy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run CommaFeed and RSS-proxy with Docker?
CommaFeed: yes. RSS-proxy: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, CommaFeed or RSS-proxy?
RSS-proxy has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for CommaFeed. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.