FeedHQ vs Coldsweat
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | FeedHQ | Coldsweat |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 14 · At risk | 5 · At risk |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | SCSS |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 579 | ★ 146 |
| First released | 2012 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Google Reader, Feedly |
What are FeedHQ and Coldsweat?
FeedHQ
FeedHQ is a web-based feed reader that you can self-host, with support for the Google Reader API. This makes it compatible with many third-party mobile and desktop reader apps.
- Google Reader API compatibility
- Works with many apps
- Keyboard-driven interface
Coldsweat
Coldsweat is a self-hosted, web-based RSS aggregator and reader designed as a Google Reader replacement. It implements the Fever API so that compatible mobile clients can connect.
- Fever API compatibility
- Works with mobile apps
- Lightweight aggregator
FeedHQ vs Coldsweat: key differences
FeedHQ is written in Python, while Coldsweat is built with SCSS. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for FeedHQ versus MIT for Coldsweat. Coldsweat is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for FeedHQ. FeedHQ has the considerably larger community, at 579 GitHub stars versus 146.
Why pick each one
Choose FeedHQ if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose Coldsweat if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in SCSS
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is FeedHQ or Coldsweat better?
Neither is universally better. FeedHQ has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are FeedHQ and Coldsweat free and open-source?
Yes. FeedHQ is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Coldsweat under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FeedHQ and Coldsweat with Docker?
FeedHQ: yes. Coldsweat: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FeedHQ or Coldsweat?
Coldsweat has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for FeedHQ. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.