Newsboat vs RSS Guard
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Newsboat | RSS Guard |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,913 | ★ 2,761 |
| First released | 2007 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Feedly | Feedly |
What are Newsboat and RSS Guard?
Newsboat
Newsboat is an RSS and Atom feed reader for the text console. It is highly configurable, supports podcasts via podboat, and can synchronize with services like Tiny Tiny RSS and Nextcloud News.
- Highly configurable TUI
- Podcast support via podboat
- Syncs with TT-RSS and others
RSS Guard
RSS Guard is a simple but powerful desktop feed reader supporting RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds. It synchronizes with Tiny Tiny RSS, Nextcloud News, FreshRSS, Google Reader API, and more.
- Supports many sync backends
- RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds
- Cross-platform Qt app
Newsboat vs RSS Guard: key differences
Both projects are written in C++. Licensing differs — MIT for Newsboat versus GPL-3.0 for RSS Guard. Newsboat is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 256 MB for RSS Guard. Newsboat is the more established project (first released 2007), while RSS Guard arrived in 2013.
Why pick each one
Choose Newsboat if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Choose RSS Guard if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is Newsboat or RSS Guard better?
Neither is universally better. Newsboat has the larger community, while RSS Guard is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Newsboat and RSS Guard free and open-source?
Yes. Newsboat is licensed under MIT and RSS Guard under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Newsboat and RSS Guard with Docker?
Newsboat: check the project docs for container support. RSS Guard: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Newsboat or RSS Guard?
Newsboat has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for RSS Guard. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.