selfoss vs yarr
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted rss & news readers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
yarr
Yet another RSS reader as a single binary
| Feature | selfoss | yarr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 68 · Good | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | RSS & News Readers | RSS & News Readers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | HTML | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,470 | ★ 4,049 |
| First released | 2012 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Reader, Feedly | Feedly, Google Reader |
What are selfoss and yarr?
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
yarr
yarr is a minimal, self-contained RSS and Atom feed aggregator that runs as a single binary with an embedded web UI. It targets users wanting the simplest possible feed reader. It is deployed as a binary or via Docker.
- Single self-contained binary
- Embedded web interface
- SQLite storage
- Cross-platform
selfoss vs yarr: key differences
Selfoss is written in HTML, while yarr is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for selfoss versus MIT for yarr. Yarr is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for selfoss. Selfoss is the more established project (first released 2012), while yarr arrived in 2020.
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 yarr if…
- Extremely simple to run
- Tiny footprint
- No dependencies
Watch out for
- Single-user only
- Minimal feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is selfoss or yarr better?
Neither is universally better. yarr has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are selfoss and yarr free and open-source?
Yes. selfoss is licensed under GPL-3.0 and yarr under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run selfoss and yarr with Docker?
selfoss: yes. yarr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, selfoss or yarr?
yarr has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for selfoss. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.