FeedHQ vs selfoss
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 | selfoss |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 14 · At risk | 68 · Good |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 579 | ★ 2,470 |
| First released | 2012 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Google Reader, Feedly |
What are FeedHQ and selfoss?
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
selfoss
selfoss is a multipurpose RSS reader and aggregation web application. It pulls in content from feeds, Twitter, and other sources, presenting them in a clean unified stream.
- Unified content stream
- Mobile-friendly interface
- Plugin sources beyond RSS
FeedHQ vs selfoss: key differences
FeedHQ is written in Python, while selfoss is built with HTML. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for FeedHQ versus GPL-3.0 for selfoss. Selfoss is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for FeedHQ. Selfoss has the considerably larger community, at 2,470 GitHub stars versus 579.
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 selfoss if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is FeedHQ or selfoss better?
selfoss is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider FeedHQ if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are FeedHQ and selfoss free and open-source?
Yes. FeedHQ is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and selfoss under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FeedHQ and selfoss with Docker?
FeedHQ: yes. selfoss: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FeedHQ or selfoss?
selfoss 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.