NewsBlur vs RSS-Bridge
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
NewsBlur
Personal news reader with training and sharing
VS
RSS-Bridge
Generate RSS feeds for websites that lack them
| Feature | NewsBlur | RSS-Bridge |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | Unlicense |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,627 | ★ 9,249 |
| First released | 2009 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Google Reader | Feedly |
What are NewsBlur and RSS-Bridge?
NewsBlur
NewsBlur is a personal news reader that brings together feeds with intelligent training to highlight stories you care about. It targets readers who want a smart, social feed reader. It is deployed via Docker Compose.
- Story training and filtering
- Social sharing of stories
- Original site view
- Mobile apps
RSS-Bridge
RSS-Bridge is a PHP project capable of generating RSS and Atom feeds for websites that do not provide them. It includes hundreds of bridges for social networks, news sites, and more.
- Creates feeds for feedless sites
- Hundreds of built-in bridges
- No database required
NewsBlur vs RSS-Bridge: key differences
NewsBlur is written in Python, while RSS-Bridge is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for NewsBlur versus Unlicense for RSS-Bridge. RSS-Bridge is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for NewsBlur. NewsBlur is the more established project (first released 2009), while RSS-Bridge arrived in 2014.
Why pick each one
Choose NewsBlur if…
- Smart story highlighting
- Good mobile apps
- Social features
Watch out for
- Complex multi-service stack
- Heavy to self-host
Choose RSS-Bridge if…
- Released under the Unlicense license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.2k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is NewsBlur or RSS-Bridge better?
RSS-Bridge is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider NewsBlur if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are NewsBlur and RSS-Bridge free and open-source?
Yes. NewsBlur is licensed under MIT and RSS-Bridge under Unlicense. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NewsBlur and RSS-Bridge with Docker?
NewsBlur: yes. RSS-Bridge: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, NewsBlur or RSS-Bridge?
RSS-Bridge has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for NewsBlur. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.