Newsboat vs selfoss
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 | selfoss |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 68 · Good |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,913 | ★ 2,470 |
| First released | 2007 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Feedly | Google Reader, Feedly |
What are Newsboat and selfoss?
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
selfoss
selfoss is a multipurpose RSS reader and aggregation web application. It pulls in content from feeds, Twitter, and other sources, presenting them in a clean unified stream.
- Unified content stream
- Mobile-friendly interface
- Plugin sources beyond RSS
Newsboat vs selfoss: key differences
Newsboat is written in C++, while selfoss is built with HTML. Licensing differs — MIT for Newsboat versus GPL-3.0 for selfoss. Newsboat is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 128 MB for selfoss. Newsboat is the more established project (first released 2007), while selfoss arrived in 2012. Selfoss 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 selfoss if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Newsboat or selfoss better?
Neither is universally better. Newsboat has the larger community, while selfoss is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Newsboat and selfoss free and open-source?
Yes. Newsboat is licensed under MIT and selfoss under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Newsboat and selfoss with Docker?
Newsboat: check the project docs for container support. selfoss: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Newsboat or selfoss?
Newsboat has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for selfoss. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.