FreshRSS vs NewsBlur

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?
FeatureFreshRSSNewsBlur
CategoryRSS & News ReadersRSS & News Readers
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguagePHPPython
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM256 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 15,716★ 7,577
First released20132009
ReplacesFeedly, Inoreader, Google ReaderFeedly, Google Reader

Why pick each one

Choose FreshRSS if…

  • Lightweight and fast
  • Works with many mobile apps
  • Actively maintained
FreshRSS details

Choose NewsBlur if…

  • Smart story highlighting
  • Good mobile apps
  • Social features
NewsBlur details

Frequently asked questions

Is FreshRSS or NewsBlur better?

FreshRSS is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider NewsBlur if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are FreshRSS and NewsBlur free and open-source?

Yes. FreshRSS is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and NewsBlur under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run FreshRSS and NewsBlur with Docker?

FreshRSS: yes. NewsBlur: yes.

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