Reader by lemon24 vs Tiny Tiny RSS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Tiny Tiny RSS
Web-based news feed reader and aggregator
| Feature | Reader by lemon24 | Tiny Tiny RSS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 557 | ★ 3,000 |
| First released | 2018 | 2005 |
| Replaces | Feedly, Google Reader | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are Reader by lemon24 and Tiny Tiny RSS?
Reader by lemon24
reader is a Python feed reader library that can fetch, store, and manage RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds, and it ships with a basic self-hostable web app and CLI. It supports plugins, full-text search, and OPML import for building a personal feed reader.
- Feed reader library and CLI
- Bundled web application
- Full-text search
- OPML import and export
Tiny Tiny RSS
Tiny Tiny RSS is a free and open-source web-based news feed reader and aggregator with powerful filtering and plugins. It targets power users who want a highly configurable RSS reader. It is deployed via Docker.
- Powerful filtering rules
- Plugin ecosystem
- Multi-user support
- Mobile app available
Reader by lemon24 vs Tiny Tiny RSS: key differences
Reader by lemon24 is written in Python, while Tiny Tiny RSS is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Reader by lemon24 versus GPL-3.0 for Tiny Tiny RSS. Reader by lemon24 is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Tiny Tiny RSS. Tiny Tiny RSS is the more established project (first released 2005), while Reader by lemon24 arrived in 2018. Tiny Tiny RSS has the considerably larger community, at 3,000 GitHub stars versus 557.
Why pick each one
Choose Reader by lemon24 if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Choose Tiny Tiny RSS if…
- Highly configurable
- Mature and stable
- Strong filtering
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Setup is opinionated
Frequently asked questions
Is Reader by lemon24 or Tiny Tiny RSS better?
Neither is universally better. Tiny Tiny RSS has the larger community, while Reader by lemon24 is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Reader by lemon24 and Tiny Tiny RSS free and open-source?
Yes. Reader by lemon24 is licensed under MIT and Tiny Tiny RSS under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Reader by lemon24 and Tiny Tiny RSS with Docker?
Reader by lemon24: yes. Tiny Tiny RSS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Reader by lemon24 or Tiny Tiny RSS?
Reader by lemon24 has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Tiny Tiny RSS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.