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.
FreshRSS
Free, self-hostable RSS feed aggregator
VS
NewsBlur
Personal news reader with training and sharing
| Feature | FreshRSS | NewsBlur |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,126 | ★ 7,627 |
| First released | 2013 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader, Google Reader | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are FreshRSS and NewsBlur?
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
NewsBlur
NewsBlur is a personal news reader that brings together feeds with intelligent training to highlight stories you care about. It targets readers who want a smart, social feed reader. It is deployed via Docker Compose.
- Story training and filtering
- Social sharing of stories
- Original site view
- Mobile apps
FreshRSS vs NewsBlur: key differences
FreshRSS is written in PHP, while NewsBlur is built with Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for FreshRSS versus MIT for NewsBlur. FreshRSS is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for NewsBlur. NewsBlur is the more established project (first released 2009), while FreshRSS arrived in 2013. FreshRSS has the considerably larger community, at 16,126 GitHub stars versus 7,627.
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 NewsBlur if…
- Smart story highlighting
- Good mobile apps
- Social features
Watch out for
- Complex multi-service stack
- Heavy to self-host
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.
Which is lighter on resources, FreshRSS or NewsBlur?
FreshRSS has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for NewsBlur. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.