selfoss 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 | selfoss | Tiny Tiny RSS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | HTML | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,470 | ★ 3,000 |
| First released | 2012 | 2005 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are selfoss and Tiny Tiny RSS?
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
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
selfoss vs Tiny Tiny RSS: key differences
Selfoss is written in HTML, while Tiny Tiny RSS is built with PHP. Selfoss is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Tiny Tiny RSS. Tiny Tiny RSS is the more established project (first released 2005), while selfoss arrived in 2012.
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 Tiny Tiny RSS if…
- Highly configurable
- Mature and stable
- Strong filtering
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Setup is opinionated
Frequently asked questions
Is selfoss or Tiny Tiny RSS better?
Neither is universally better. Tiny Tiny RSS 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 Tiny Tiny RSS free and open-source?
Yes. selfoss 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 selfoss and Tiny Tiny RSS with Docker?
selfoss: yes. Tiny Tiny RSS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, selfoss or Tiny Tiny RSS?
selfoss has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Tiny Tiny RSS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.