Fusion vs Miniflux
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Miniflux
Minimalist and opinionated RSS feed reader
| Feature | Fusion | Miniflux |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,182 | ★ 9,723 |
| First released | 2024 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader | Feedly, Inoreader |
What are Fusion and Miniflux?
Fusion
Fusion is a lightweight, self-hosting-friendly RSS reader with a fast reading workflow, unread tracking, bookmarks, and full-text search. It can extract full article content and deploys as a single binary or Docker container.
- Full-text article extraction
- Unread tracking and bookmarks
- Built-in search
- Single-binary or Docker
Miniflux
Miniflux is a minimalist and opinionated feed reader focused on speed, simplicity, and a distraction-free reading experience. It targets users who want a no-nonsense RSS reader. It is deployed via Docker or a binary.
- Minimal distraction-free reading
- Single-binary deployment
- Compatible APIs for mobile apps
- Keyboard-driven interface
Fusion vs Miniflux: key differences
Fusion is written in TypeScript, while Miniflux is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Fusion versus Apache-2.0 for Miniflux. Miniflux is the more established project (first released 2014), while Fusion arrived in 2024. Miniflux has the considerably larger community, at 9,723 GitHub stars versus 2,182.
Why pick each one
Choose Fusion if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
Choose Miniflux if…
- Very fast and lightweight
- Easy to deploy
- Clean reading experience
Watch out for
- Requires PostgreSQL
- Intentionally minimal features
Frequently asked questions
Is Fusion or Miniflux better?
Neither is universally better. Miniflux has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Fusion and Miniflux free and open-source?
Yes. Fusion is licensed under MIT and Miniflux under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Fusion and Miniflux with Docker?
Fusion: yes. Miniflux: yes.