Miniflux 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.
Miniflux
Minimalist and opinionated RSS feed reader
VS
yarr
Yet another RSS reader as a single binary
| Feature | Miniflux | yarr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,729 | ★ 4,049 |
| First released | 2014 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Inoreader | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are Miniflux and yarr?
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
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
Miniflux vs yarr: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Miniflux versus MIT for yarr. Yarr is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Miniflux. Miniflux is the more established project (first released 2014), while yarr arrived in 2020. Miniflux has the considerably larger community, at 9,729 GitHub stars versus 4,049.
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 yarr if…
- Extremely simple to run
- Tiny footprint
- No dependencies
Watch out for
- Single-user only
- Minimal feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is Miniflux or yarr 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 yarr free and open-source?
Yes. Miniflux is licensed under Apache-2.0 and yarr under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Miniflux and yarr with Docker?
Miniflux: yes. yarr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Miniflux or yarr?
yarr has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Miniflux. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.