FreshRSS vs yarr
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | FreshRSS | yarr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,116 | ★ 4,046 |
| First released | 2013 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader, Google Reader | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are FreshRSS and yarr?
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
yarr
yarr is a minimal, self-contained RSS and Atom feed aggregator that runs as a single binary with an embedded web UI. It targets users wanting the simplest possible feed reader. It is deployed as a binary or via Docker.
- Single self-contained binary
- Embedded web interface
- SQLite storage
- Cross-platform
FreshRSS vs yarr: key differences
FreshRSS is written in PHP, while yarr is built with Go. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for FreshRSS versus MIT for yarr. Yarr is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for FreshRSS. FreshRSS is the more established project (first released 2013), while yarr arrived in 2020. FreshRSS has the considerably larger community, at 16,116 GitHub stars versus 4,046.
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 yarr if…
- Extremely simple to run
- Tiny footprint
- No dependencies
Watch out for
- Single-user only
- Minimal feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is FreshRSS or yarr better?
Neither is universally better. FreshRSS has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are FreshRSS and yarr free and open-source?
Yes. FreshRSS is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and yarr under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreshRSS and yarr with Docker?
FreshRSS: yes. yarr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FreshRSS or yarr?
yarr has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for FreshRSS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.