FeedReader vs Newsboat
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
FeedReader
Modern desktop RSS client for Linux
VS
Newsboat
Terminal RSS and Atom feed reader for text consoles
| Feature | FeedReader | Newsboat |
|---|---|---|
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Vala | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 767 | ★ 3,874 |
| First released | 2014 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Feedly | Feedly |
Why pick each one
Choose FeedReader if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Vala
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Newsboat if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is FeedReader or Newsboat better?
Neither is universally better. Newsboat has the larger community, while FeedReader is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are FeedReader and Newsboat free and open-source?
Yes. FeedReader is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Newsboat under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FeedReader and Newsboat with Docker?
FeedReader: check the project docs for container support. Newsboat: check the project docs for container support.