Newsboat vs RSSHub
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
RSSHub
Generate RSS feeds for sites that lack them
| Feature | Newsboat | RSSHub |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | C++ | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,913 | ★ 46,308 |
| First released | 2007 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Feedly | Feedly |
What are Newsboat and RSSHub?
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
RSSHub
RSSHub is an extensible feed generator that creates RSS feeds for thousands of websites and services that do not provide one. It targets users who want feeds from feedless sites. It is deployed via Docker.
- Feeds for thousands of sources
- Hundreds of community routes
- Pairs with any RSS reader
- Highly extensible
Newsboat vs RSSHub: key differences
Newsboat is written in C++, while RSSHub is built with TypeScript. Newsboat is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 256 MB for RSSHub. Newsboat is the more established project (first released 2007), while RSSHub arrived in 2018. RSSHub has the considerably larger community, at 46,308 GitHub stars versus 3,913. RSSHub lists first-class Docker deployment; Newsboat does not.
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 RSSHub if…
- Feeds from feedless sites
- Huge route catalog
- Active community
Watch out for
- Some routes break over time
- Not a reader itself
Frequently asked questions
Is Newsboat or RSSHub better?
RSSHub is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Newsboat if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Newsboat and RSSHub free and open-source?
Yes. Newsboat is licensed under MIT and RSSHub under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Newsboat and RSSHub with Docker?
Newsboat: check the project docs for container support. RSSHub: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Newsboat or RSSHub?
Newsboat has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for RSSHub. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.