Stringer vs Readrops
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Stringer
Anti-social, self-hosted RSS reader
VS
Readrops
Android RSS reader that syncs with self-hosted services
| Feature | Stringer | Readrops |
|---|---|---|
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | Kotlin |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,122 | ★ 572 |
| First released | 2013 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Google Reader | Feedly |
Why pick each one
Choose Readrops if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Kotlin
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Stringer or Readrops better?
Neither is universally better. Stringer has the larger community, while Readrops is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Stringer and Readrops free and open-source?
Yes. Stringer is licensed under MIT and Readrops under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Stringer and Readrops with Docker?
Stringer: yes. Readrops: check the project docs for container support.