Miniflux vs RSS Guard
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
RSS Guard
Cross-platform desktop feed reader with plugin support
| Feature | Miniflux | RSS Guard |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,729 | ★ 2,761 |
| First released | 2014 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader | Feedly |
What are Miniflux and RSS Guard?
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
RSS Guard
RSS Guard is a simple but powerful desktop feed reader supporting RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds. It synchronizes with Tiny Tiny RSS, Nextcloud News, FreshRSS, Google Reader API, and more.
- Supports many sync backends
- RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds
- Cross-platform Qt app
Miniflux vs RSS Guard: key differences
Miniflux is written in Go, while RSS Guard is built with C++. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Miniflux versus GPL-3.0 for RSS Guard. Miniflux is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for RSS Guard. Miniflux has the considerably larger community, at 9,729 GitHub stars versus 2,761. Miniflux lists first-class Docker deployment; RSS Guard 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 RSS Guard if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is Miniflux or RSS Guard 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 Miniflux and RSS Guard free and open-source?
Yes. Miniflux is licensed under Apache-2.0 and RSS Guard under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Miniflux and RSS Guard with Docker?
Miniflux: yes. RSS Guard: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Miniflux or RSS Guard?
Miniflux has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for RSS Guard. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.