FeedHQ 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.
yarr
Yet another RSS reader as a single binary
| Feature | FeedHQ | yarr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 14 · At risk | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 579 | ★ 4,049 |
| First released | 2012 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are FeedHQ and yarr?
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
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
FeedHQ vs yarr: key differences
FeedHQ is written in Python, while yarr is built with Go. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for FeedHQ versus MIT for yarr. Yarr is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for FeedHQ. FeedHQ is the more established project (first released 2012), while yarr arrived in 2020. Yarr has the considerably larger community, at 4,049 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 yarr if…
- Extremely simple to run
- Tiny footprint
- No dependencies
Watch out for
- Single-user only
- Minimal feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is FeedHQ or yarr better?
yarr 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 yarr free and open-source?
Yes. FeedHQ is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and yarr under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FeedHQ and yarr with Docker?
FeedHQ: yes. yarr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FeedHQ or yarr?
yarr has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for FeedHQ. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.