FeedHQ vs Tiny Tiny RSS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Tiny Tiny RSS
Web-based news feed reader and aggregator
| Feature | FeedHQ | Tiny Tiny RSS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 579 | ★ 3,000 |
| First released | 2012 | 2005 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are FeedHQ and Tiny Tiny RSS?
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
Tiny Tiny RSS
Tiny Tiny RSS is a free and open-source web-based news feed reader and aggregator with powerful filtering and plugins. It targets power users who want a highly configurable RSS reader. It is deployed via Docker.
- Powerful filtering rules
- Plugin ecosystem
- Multi-user support
- Mobile app available
FeedHQ vs Tiny Tiny RSS: key differences
FeedHQ is written in Python, while Tiny Tiny RSS is built with PHP. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for FeedHQ versus GPL-3.0 for Tiny Tiny RSS. Tiny Tiny RSS is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for FeedHQ. Tiny Tiny RSS is the more established project (first released 2005), while FeedHQ arrived in 2012. Tiny Tiny RSS has the considerably larger community, at 3,000 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 Tiny Tiny RSS if…
- Highly configurable
- Mature and stable
- Strong filtering
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Setup is opinionated
Frequently asked questions
Is FeedHQ or Tiny Tiny RSS better?
Neither is universally better. Tiny Tiny RSS has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are FeedHQ and Tiny Tiny RSS free and open-source?
Yes. FeedHQ is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Tiny Tiny RSS under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FeedHQ and Tiny Tiny RSS with Docker?
FeedHQ: yes. Tiny Tiny RSS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FeedHQ or Tiny Tiny RSS?
Tiny Tiny RSS 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.