FreshRSS vs RSSHub
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
RSSHub
Generate RSS feeds for sites that lack them
| Feature | FreshRSS | RSSHub |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,126 | ★ 46,308 |
| First released | 2013 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader, Google Reader | Feedly |
What are FreshRSS and RSSHub?
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
RSSHub
RSSHub is an extensible feed generator that creates RSS feeds for thousands of websites and services that do not provide one. It targets users who want feeds from feedless sites. It is deployed via Docker.
- Feeds for thousands of sources
- Hundreds of community routes
- Pairs with any RSS reader
- Highly extensible
FreshRSS vs RSSHub: key differences
FreshRSS is written in PHP, while RSSHub is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for FreshRSS versus MIT for RSSHub. FreshRSS is the more established project (first released 2013), while RSSHub arrived in 2018. RSSHub has the considerably larger community, at 46,308 GitHub stars versus 16,126.
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 RSSHub if…
- Feeds from feedless sites
- Huge route catalog
- Active community
Watch out for
- Some routes break over time
- Not a reader itself
Frequently asked questions
Is FreshRSS or RSSHub better?
Neither is universally better. RSSHub has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are FreshRSS and RSSHub free and open-source?
Yes. FreshRSS is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and RSSHub under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreshRSS and RSSHub with Docker?
FreshRSS: yes. RSSHub: yes.