selfoss 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 | selfoss | Stringer |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 68 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | HTML | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,470 | ★ 4,133 |
| First released | 2012 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are selfoss and Stringer?
selfoss
selfoss is a multipurpose RSS reader and aggregation web application. It pulls in content from feeds, Twitter, and other sources, presenting them in a clean unified stream.
- Unified content stream
- Mobile-friendly interface
- Plugin sources beyond RSS
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
selfoss vs Stringer: key differences
Selfoss is written in HTML, while Stringer is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for selfoss versus MIT for Stringer. Selfoss is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Stringer.
Why pick each one
Choose selfoss if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
Choose Stringer if…
- Private and minimal
- Easy reading flow
- No external services
Watch out for
- Slow development
- Basic feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is selfoss or Stringer better?
Neither is universally better. Stringer has the larger community, while selfoss is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are selfoss and Stringer free and open-source?
Yes. selfoss is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Stringer under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run selfoss and Stringer with Docker?
selfoss: yes. Stringer: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, selfoss or Stringer?
selfoss 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.