FeedHQ vs Yarrharr
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 | Yarrharr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 14 · At risk | 69 · Good |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 579 | ★ 3 |
| First released | 2012 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are FeedHQ and Yarrharr?
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
Yarrharr
Yarrharr is a self-hosted RSS and Atom feed reader written in Python and Django. It offers a clean, mobile-friendly interface for reading feeds organized into labels.
- Mobile-friendly reading
- Label-based organization
- Django-based backend
FeedHQ vs Yarrharr: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for FeedHQ versus GPL-3.0 for Yarrharr. Yarrharr is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for FeedHQ. FeedHQ is the more established project (first released 2012), while Yarrharr arrived in 2014. FeedHQ has the considerably larger community, at 579 GitHub stars versus 3.
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 Yarrharr if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is FeedHQ or Yarrharr 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 Yarrharr free and open-source?
Yes. FeedHQ is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Yarrharr under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FeedHQ and Yarrharr with Docker?
FeedHQ: yes. Yarrharr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FeedHQ or Yarrharr?
Yarrharr has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for FeedHQ. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.