RSS-Bridge 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.
RSS-Bridge
Generate RSS feeds for websites that lack them
VS
RSS Guard
Cross-platform desktop feed reader with plugin support
| Feature | RSS-Bridge | RSS Guard |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | Unlicense | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,249 | ★ 2,761 |
| First released | 2014 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Feedly | Feedly |
What are RSS-Bridge and RSS Guard?
RSS-Bridge
RSS-Bridge is a PHP project capable of generating RSS and Atom feeds for websites that do not provide them. It includes hundreds of bridges for social networks, news sites, and more.
- Creates feeds for feedless sites
- Hundreds of built-in bridges
- No database required
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
RSS-Bridge vs RSS Guard: key differences
RSS-Bridge is written in PHP, while RSS Guard is built with C++. Licensing differs — Unlicense for RSS-Bridge versus GPL-3.0 for RSS Guard. RSS-Bridge is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for RSS Guard. RSS-Bridge has the considerably larger community, at 9,249 GitHub stars versus 2,761. RSS-Bridge lists first-class Docker deployment; RSS Guard does not.
Why pick each one
Choose RSS-Bridge if…
- Released under the Unlicense license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.2k GitHub stars
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 RSS-Bridge or RSS Guard better?
Neither is universally better. RSS-Bridge has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are RSS-Bridge and RSS Guard free and open-source?
Yes. RSS-Bridge is licensed under Unlicense and RSS Guard under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run RSS-Bridge and RSS Guard with Docker?
RSS-Bridge: yes. RSS Guard: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, RSS-Bridge or RSS Guard?
RSS-Bridge has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for RSS Guard. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.