Coldsweat vs Stringer
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Coldsweat | Stringer |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 5 · At risk | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | SCSS | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 146 | ★ 4,133 |
| First released | 2013 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are Coldsweat and Stringer?
Coldsweat
Coldsweat is a self-hosted, web-based RSS aggregator and reader designed as a Google Reader replacement. It implements the Fever API so that compatible mobile clients can connect.
- Fever API compatibility
- Works with mobile apps
- Lightweight aggregator
Stringer
Stringer is a self-hosted, anti-social RSS reader with no external dependencies on third-party services. It targets users who want a private, no-frills feed reader. It is deployed via a Ruby stack or Docker.
- No third-party dependencies
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Simple unread-focused view
- Self-contained
Coldsweat vs Stringer: key differences
Coldsweat is written in SCSS, while Stringer is built with Ruby. Coldsweat is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Stringer. Stringer has the considerably larger community, at 4,133 GitHub stars versus 146.
Why pick each one
Choose Coldsweat if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in SCSS
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Stringer if…
- Private and minimal
- Easy reading flow
- No external services
Watch out for
- Slow development
- Basic feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is Coldsweat or Stringer better?
Neither is universally better. Stringer has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Coldsweat and Stringer free and open-source?
Yes. Coldsweat is licensed under MIT and Stringer under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Coldsweat and Stringer with Docker?
Coldsweat: yes. Stringer: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Coldsweat or Stringer?
Coldsweat has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Stringer. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.