FreshRSS vs Newspipe
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
Newspipe
Web-based news aggregator and notification service
| Feature | FreshRSS | Newspipe |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 0 · At risk |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,116 | ★ 7 |
| First released | 2013 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader, Google Reader | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are FreshRSS and Newspipe?
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
Newspipe
Newspipe is a web-based news aggregator that lets you follow RSS and Atom feeds in a clean interface. It supports per-user feed lists, full-text search, and email notifications.
- Multi-user feed aggregation
- Full-text search
- Email notifications
FreshRSS vs Newspipe: key differences
FreshRSS is written in PHP, while Newspipe is built with Python. Newspipe is the more established project (first released 2010), while FreshRSS arrived in 2013. FreshRSS has the considerably larger community, at 16,116 GitHub stars versus 7.
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 Newspipe if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is FreshRSS or Newspipe better?
FreshRSS is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Newspipe if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are FreshRSS and Newspipe free and open-source?
Yes. FreshRSS is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Newspipe under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreshRSS and Newspipe with Docker?
FreshRSS: yes. Newspipe: yes.