NewsBlur vs Winds
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
Winds
Archived
Beautiful open-source RSS and podcast application
| Feature | NewsBlur | Winds |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,627 | ★ 9,092 |
| First released | 2009 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Google Reader | Feedly |
What are NewsBlur and Winds?
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
Winds
Winds is an open-source RSS reader and podcast application with a polished interface. It can be self-hosted and offers personalized recommendations powered by activity feeds.
- RSS and podcast reader
- Polished modern interface
- Recommendation feeds
NewsBlur vs Winds: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Winds's repository is archived and no longer developed, while NewsBlur is actively maintained. NewsBlur is written in Python, while Winds is built with JavaScript. Winds is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for NewsBlur. NewsBlur is the more established project (first released 2009), while Winds arrived in 2017.
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 Winds if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.1k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is NewsBlur or Winds better?
Neither is universally better. Winds has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are NewsBlur and Winds free and open-source?
Yes. NewsBlur is licensed under MIT and Winds under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NewsBlur and Winds with Docker?
NewsBlur: yes. Winds: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, NewsBlur or Winds?
Winds has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for NewsBlur. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.