Miniflux is the best self-hosted RSS reader for most people who run their own server. It ships as one static binary, its developers report that it uses “a couple of MB of memory” with several hundred feeds, and the mobile apps you may already use can sync with it through the Fever or Google Reader API. Its one hard requirement is PostgreSQL.
If you want more tools per feed, such as scraping sites that publish no feed at all, FreshRSS has the broadest feature set. If you don’t want to run a database server, CommaFeed starts with no configuration on an embedded database, and yarr is a single file that stores everything in SQLite and can even run as a desktop app.
Our picks
Scores
1–5 per criterion · total is the weighted average · select a score to see its source| # | Product | Setup and upkeep ×3 | Reading tools ×3 | App support ×2 | Active maintenance ×2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miniflux | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4.4 |
| 2 | CommaFeed | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4.1 |
| 3 | FreshRSS | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3.9 |
| 4 | yarr | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.8 |
How each criterion is scored
Setup and upkeep ×3
How many separate components a server has to run: the app itself plus any required language runtime, web server and database server.
- 5 One program with nothing else to run; data can live in a local file
- 4 One program plus one required service, such as a database server
- 3 Two separate components, for example a language runtime and a web server
- 2 Three separate components
- 1 Four or more separate components
Reading tools ×3
How many of five reading features the project documents: fetching the full article from the original site, filters or rules, building a feed for a site that has none, search across articles, and keyboard shortcuts.
- 5 All five
- 4 Four of the five
- 3 Three of the five
- 2 Two of the five
- 1 None or one of the five
App support ×2
Which sync APIs existing mobile and desktop RSS apps can use (Google Reader API, Fever API), plus whether the reader has its own API.
- 5 Google Reader API, Fever API and its own API
- 4 Google Reader API and Fever API
- 3 Google Reader API only, or Fever API plus its own API
- 2 Fever API only
- 1 No sync API
Active maintenance ×2
How recent the latest release is on GitHub, counted from the date of the evaluation.
- 5 Within the last month
- 4 Within the last 3 months
- 3 Within the last 6 months
- 2 Within the last 12 months
- 1 More than 12 months ago, or no releases
Miniflux scores highest because it does the most with the least. The reading tools are serious: it fetches the original article and extracts the content with a local Readability parser, filters articles with regular expressions, and searches everything with PostgreSQL’s full-text search. Keyboard shortcuts cover navigation.
The trade-off is the database. Miniflux “works only with PostgreSQL”, so even a one-person install runs a database server next to the binary. If you already run PostgreSQL, that costs you nothing.
- Single static binary, plus Docker images with ARM and RISC-V support
- Full-article extraction, regex filters and full-text search
- Works with apps that use the Fever or Google Reader API
- Works only with PostgreSQL; there is no SQLite option
- A deliberately minimal interface with few layout choices
Skip it if: Anyone who doesn't want to run PostgreSQL.
CommaFeed is modeled on Google Reader and is the quickest of the four to get running: Docker is the documented starting point, and with its embedded H2 database it needs no configuration at all. It also supports PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB.
Watch the memory. The README warns that the Java virtual machine “will not release unused memory to the operating system”, and recommends the native package, which starts faster and uses less memory.
- Runs with no configuration on its embedded H2 database
- Four layouts and rules that mark articles as read automatically
- Fever and Google Reader APIs for mobile apps
- The JVM package holds on to memory; the native package is the one to use on small servers
Skip it if: Anyone on a very small server who can't use the native package.
FreshRSS is the reader to pick when features matter more than footprint. It can scrape sites that publish no feed using XPath, it supports custom tags and several users with an optional anonymous reading mode, and extensions add more. It also has the widest app support: native apps for Linux, Android, iOS, Windows and macOS can connect through either the Google Reader API, which the project recommends, or the Fever API.
Setup is a classic PHP stack: a web server, PHP 8.2+ and PostgreSQL, SQLite, MariaDB or MySQL. The project reports response times under a second on a Raspberry Pi 1 with 150 feeds, so the stack is light even if it has more parts.
- Built-in XPath scraping for sites without an RSS or Atom feed
- Supports both the Google Reader API and the Fever API
- Multiple users, custom tags and an extension system
- Needs a web server and PHP 8.2+ as well as a database
Skip it if: Anyone who wants a single binary with nothing else to maintain.
yarr (“yet another rss reader”) is the simplest option here. It is a single binary with no dependencies that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, either as a desktop app or as a server, with SQLite storage. It covers the basics well: a readability view, full-text search and keyboard shortcuts.
It ranks last because it stops at the basics. There are no filters or rules, and mobile apps can connect only through its Fever-compatible API.
- One binary with no dependencies
- Runs as a desktop app or as a self-hosted server
- Stores data in SQLite or PostgreSQL
- Mobile apps can sync only through the Fever API
- No filters, rules or scraping
Skip it if: Anyone who wants rules or filters to tame high-volume feeds.
Questions
Which of these work with mobile RSS apps?
All four. FreshRSS, Miniflux and CommaFeed support both the Google Reader API and the Fever API; yarr supports the Fever API only. FreshRSS’s documentation describes the Fever API as having limited features compared with the Google Reader API.
Which one needs the least server?
yarr. It is a single binary that can store everything in SQLite, so nothing else has to run. Miniflux is also a single binary but requires PostgreSQL.
Can I follow a site that has no RSS feed?
With FreshRSS, which can build a feed from a web page using XPath. None of the other three list that feature.
Method
Each reader was scored 1–5 on four weighted criteria, each with a published five-level scale: setup and upkeep (×3), reading tools (×3), app support (×2) and active maintenance (×2). The ranking is the weighted average. Every score cites quotes from the project’s README, documentation or GitHub release data, captured on 5 November 2026.
We scored from each project’s own documentation and did not install or benchmark the readers. How our rankings work.