RSS Guard 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 | RSS Guard | Tiny Tiny RSS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,761 | ★ 3,000 |
| First released | 2013 | 2005 |
| Replaces | Feedly | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are RSS Guard and Tiny Tiny RSS?
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
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
RSS Guard vs Tiny Tiny RSS: key differences
RSS Guard is written in C++, while Tiny Tiny RSS is built with PHP. Tiny Tiny RSS is the more established project (first released 2005), while RSS Guard arrived in 2013. Tiny Tiny RSS lists first-class Docker deployment; RSS Guard does not.
Why pick each one
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++
Choose Tiny Tiny RSS if…
- Highly configurable
- Mature and stable
- Strong filtering
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Setup is opinionated
Frequently asked questions
Is RSS Guard or Tiny Tiny RSS better?
Neither is universally better. Tiny Tiny RSS 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 Tiny Tiny RSS free and open-source?
Yes. RSS Guard is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Tiny Tiny RSS under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run RSS Guard and Tiny Tiny RSS with Docker?
RSS Guard: check the project docs for container support. Tiny Tiny RSS: yes.