NewsBlur vs Stringer
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
Stringer
Anti-social, self-hosted RSS reader
| Feature | NewsBlur | Stringer |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Python | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,627 | ★ 4,133 |
| First released | 2009 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Google Reader | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are NewsBlur and Stringer?
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
Stringer
Stringer is a self-hosted, anti-social RSS reader with no external dependencies on third-party services. It targets users who want a private, no-frills feed reader. It is deployed via a Ruby stack or Docker.
- No third-party dependencies
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Simple unread-focused view
- Self-contained
NewsBlur vs Stringer: key differences
NewsBlur is written in Python, while Stringer is built with Ruby. Stringer is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for NewsBlur. NewsBlur is the more established project (first released 2009), while Stringer arrived in 2013.
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 Stringer if…
- Private and minimal
- Easy reading flow
- No external services
Watch out for
- Slow development
- Basic feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is NewsBlur or Stringer better?
Neither is universally better. NewsBlur has the larger community, while Stringer is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are NewsBlur and Stringer free and open-source?
Yes. NewsBlur is licensed under MIT and Stringer under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NewsBlur and Stringer with Docker?
NewsBlur: yes. Stringer: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, NewsBlur or Stringer?
Stringer has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for NewsBlur. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.