Miniflux vs Newsboat
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
VS
Newsboat
Terminal RSS and Atom feed reader for text consoles
| Feature | Miniflux | Newsboat |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,729 | ★ 3,913 |
| First released | 2014 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader | Feedly |
What are Miniflux and Newsboat?
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
Newsboat
Newsboat is an RSS and Atom feed reader for the text console. It is highly configurable, supports podcasts via podboat, and can synchronize with services like Tiny Tiny RSS and Nextcloud News.
- Highly configurable TUI
- Podcast support via podboat
- Syncs with TT-RSS and others
Miniflux vs Newsboat: key differences
Miniflux is written in Go, while Newsboat is built with C++. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Miniflux versus MIT for Newsboat. Newsboat is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Miniflux. Newsboat is the more established project (first released 2007), while Miniflux arrived in 2014. Miniflux has the considerably larger community, at 9,729 GitHub stars versus 3,913. Miniflux lists first-class Docker deployment; Newsboat does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Miniflux if…
- Very fast and lightweight
- Easy to deploy
- Clean reading experience
Watch out for
- Requires PostgreSQL
- Intentionally minimal features
Choose Newsboat if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Miniflux or Newsboat better?
Miniflux is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Newsboat if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Miniflux and Newsboat free and open-source?
Yes. Miniflux is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Newsboat under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Miniflux and Newsboat with Docker?
Miniflux: yes. Newsboat: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Miniflux or Newsboat?
Newsboat has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Miniflux. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.