RSS Guard vs Winds
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?
RSS Guard
Cross-platform desktop feed reader with plugin support
VS
Winds
Beautiful open-source RSS and podcast application
| Feature | RSS Guard | Winds |
|---|---|---|
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | C++ | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,711 | ★ 9,115 |
| First released | 2013 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Feedly | Feedly |
Why pick each one
Choose RSS Guard if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Choose Winds if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.1k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is RSS Guard or Winds better?
Neither is universally better. Winds has the larger community, while RSS Guard is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are RSS Guard and Winds free and open-source?
Yes. RSS Guard is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Winds under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run RSS Guard and Winds with Docker?
RSS Guard: check the project docs for container support. Winds: yes.