FreshRSS vs FeedHQ
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
FreshRSS
Free, self-hostable RSS feed aggregator
VS
FeedHQ
Web-based feed reader with Google Reader API support
| Feature | FreshRSS | FeedHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 14 · At risk |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,126 | ★ 579 |
| First released | 2013 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader, Google Reader | Google Reader, Feedly |
What are FreshRSS and FeedHQ?
FreshRSS
FreshRSS is a free, self-hostable RSS and Atom feed aggregator that is fast, lightweight, and highly customizable. It targets users who want full control over their news reading. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Fast feed aggregation
- Multi-user support
- Mobile app API compatibility
- Extensions and themes
FeedHQ
FeedHQ is a web-based feed reader that you can self-host, with support for the Google Reader API. This makes it compatible with many third-party mobile and desktop reader apps.
- Google Reader API compatibility
- Works with many apps
- Keyboard-driven interface
FreshRSS vs FeedHQ: key differences
FreshRSS is written in PHP, while FeedHQ is built with Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for FreshRSS versus BSD-3-Clause for FeedHQ. FreshRSS is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for FeedHQ. FreshRSS has the considerably larger community, at 16,126 GitHub stars versus 579.
Why pick each one
Choose FreshRSS if…
- Lightweight and fast
- Works with many mobile apps
- Actively maintained
Watch out for
- Requires a database
- Interface is functional, not flashy
Choose FeedHQ if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is FreshRSS or FeedHQ better?
FreshRSS is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider FeedHQ if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are FreshRSS and FeedHQ free and open-source?
Yes. FreshRSS is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and FeedHQ under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreshRSS and FeedHQ with Docker?
FreshRSS: yes. FeedHQ: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FreshRSS or FeedHQ?
FreshRSS has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for FeedHQ. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.