Fusion vs Tiny Tiny RSS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Tiny Tiny RSS
Web-based news feed reader and aggregator
| Feature | Fusion | Tiny Tiny RSS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,184 | ★ 3,000 |
| First released | 2024 | 2005 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are Fusion and Tiny Tiny RSS?
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
Tiny Tiny RSS
Tiny Tiny RSS is a free and open-source web-based news feed reader and aggregator with powerful filtering and plugins. It targets power users who want a highly configurable RSS reader. It is deployed via Docker.
- Powerful filtering rules
- Plugin ecosystem
- Multi-user support
- Mobile app available
Fusion vs Tiny Tiny RSS: key differences
Fusion is written in TypeScript, while Tiny Tiny RSS is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Fusion versus GPL-3.0 for Tiny Tiny RSS. Fusion is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Tiny Tiny RSS. Tiny Tiny RSS is the more established project (first released 2005), while Fusion arrived in 2024.
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 Tiny Tiny RSS if…
- Highly configurable
- Mature and stable
- Strong filtering
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Setup is opinionated
Frequently asked questions
Is Fusion or Tiny Tiny RSS better?
Neither is universally better. Tiny Tiny RSS has the larger community, while Fusion is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Fusion and Tiny Tiny RSS free and open-source?
Yes. Fusion is licensed under MIT and Tiny Tiny RSS under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Fusion and Tiny Tiny RSS with Docker?
Fusion: yes. Tiny Tiny RSS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Fusion or Tiny Tiny RSS?
Fusion has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Tiny Tiny RSS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.