FreshRSS

Open source alternative to Feedly, Inoreader, Feedbin and Feeder

16.5K stars
AGPL-3.0
Active this week
Last commit today

Last verified Oct 31, 2026

Manage RSS and Atom subscriptions in a self-hosted aggregator that scales to 1M+ articles, 50k+ feeds, and multiple users without per-subscription fees.

Visit website GitHub16.5K Deploy on Hostinger

Read the full breakdownWho it is for, how it works, trade-offs, the quick start and the FAQ

who it's for

Who FreshRSS is for#

Heavy readers following 100+ sources

FreshRSS replaces a paid Feedly or Inoreader subscription for users who track many blogs, news sites, and podcasts. Full-text search and saved query filters are available on every install without a paid tier, making it viable as a personal knowledge archive.

Skip if:

If you follow fewer than 20 sources and primarily read on a mobile app, a free tier on a managed RSS service requires less setup and maintenance. FreshRSS's advantage is scale and data ownership, neither of which matters for light casual reading.

Households and small teams sharing a feed library

Multi-user support lets two to several users share a single installation with separate subscriptions and read state. No per-seat pricing means adding a family member or colleague costs nothing beyond marginal storage on the existing server.

Skip if:

If your team needs fine-grained per-user permission controls or independent theme preferences, managing separate installs per user is simpler. FreshRSS multi-user is practical but not enterprise-grade.

Privacy-focused readers who own their data

Subscriptions, article history, and read state live entirely in your own database. No reading behavior is sent to third-party servers. OPML export provides a clean migration path if you switch to another reader.

Skip if:

If data residency is not a concern and you prefer a zero-maintenance setup, a managed RSS service provides the same reading experience without any infrastructure overhead.

Developers scripting feed workflows

The Google Reader-compatible API and built-in CLI make FreshRSS scriptable. You can subscribe to feeds programmatically, run saved search queries to filter article streams, and pull article data via the API for downstream automation.

Skip if:

If your goal is bulk article extraction for data pipelines rather than human-readable feed monitoring, a dedicated scraping or feed-to-database tool is a more appropriate fit.

the problem

The problem it solves#

Paid RSS services store your subscriptions, reading history, and article archives on infrastructure you do not control. When a service reprices or shuts down, you face migration with no guarantee your feed library transfers intact. Feedly limits full-text search and API access to paid tiers; Inoreader gates advanced filtering behind a subscription. For readers following hundreds of sources, monthly fees compound quickly.

For households or small teams sharing a reading workflow, multi-user access on commercial RSS platforms comes only on business plans at per-seat rates, making shared reading expensive relative to a single self-hosted install.

how FreshRSS solves it

How it solves it#

Web scraping with XPath

Generates RSS feeds from sites that publish no native feed, using XPath selectors to extract article titles, links, and content from HTML pages. Also handles JSON document sources. This covers sites that deliberately omit RSS output or that structure their content in non-standard ways.

WebSub push notifications

Receives instant article pushes from compatible publishers including WordPress, Friendica, Blogger, and Medium, rather than waiting for the next polling interval. FreshRSS maintains a WebSub subscription so updates from those sources arrive as the publisher sends them.

Multi-user with flexible login options

Each account on a FreshRSS installation has separate subscriptions, read state, and custom tags. An optional anonymous reading mode lets visitors browse without logging in. Supported login methods include web form, HTTP authentication with proxy delegation, and OpenID Connect.

Google Reader and Fever APIs

Connects to native mobile and desktop apps via two compatible APIs: Google Reader (full sync, recommended) and Fever (limited, for older clients). Supported Android apps include Capy Reader, Readrops, FeedMe, and FeedFlow. Any iOS or desktop client that supports the Google Reader API will connect.

OPML import, export, and feed sharing

Imports subscriptions from any service via OPML and exports them for backup or migration. Saved search queries generate new derivative feeds shareable as RSS, HTML, or OPML, letting you publish a filtered subset of your reading to others.

Extension system with community themes

FreshRSS exposes a documented extension API with a dedicated community repository. Extensions cover custom themes, feed processors, and interface behaviors, available separately from the core codebase so they do not block core upgrades.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

Scales on minimal hardwareThe README documents sub-second response times on a Raspberry Pi 1 running 150 feeds. The stated ceiling of 1M+ articles and 50k+ feeds runs on a standard VPS. No separate cache tier or specialized infrastructure is required for typical personal or small-team deployments.
14 years of active maintenanceFreshRSS was created in 2012 and carries 16,462 GitHub stars, with its last commit on 2026-10-30. Long-term consistent maintenance reduces the adoption risk that newer self-hosted RSS projects carry; FreshRSS has shipped through multiple cycles of the RSS market without stalling.
20+ language translationsThe interface is translated into over 20 languages, including Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Polish. Several translations report 99-100% completion, making FreshRSS usable for non-English readers without custom configuration.
No per-user cost on multi-user installsCommercial RSS platforms charge per seat or restrict multi-user access to business plans. FreshRSS multi-user support is part of the core application; adding users to a self-hosted install costs nothing beyond marginal database storage on the existing server.

Trade-offs

-Requires PHP 8.2+ and a web serverUnlike single-binary or containerized Go apps, FreshRSS requires a PHP runtime, several extension modules, and a compatible web server (Apache, nginx, or lighttpd). Docker provides a pre-configured path, but users not already running a PHP server environment will face additional setup steps for bare-metal installs.
-574 open issuesThe project had 574 open issues as of the research date, based on the GitHub issues API count excluding pull requests. A long-lived project accumulates open issues, and some requests remain unresolved for extended periods. Check open issues for known problems before deploying.
-AGPL-3.0 restricts reselling hosted accessPersonal and internal commercial use of FreshRSS is unrestricted. The AGPL-3.0 license requires publishing source changes if you modify FreshRSS and offer it as a hosted service to others outside your organization. Running it privately for yourself, your family, or your team is fully permitted with no conditions.

versus alternatives

FreshRSS vs alternatives#

FreshRSS vs Feedly

Both are RSS feed aggregators for tracking news and content across many subscriptions. The key difference is deployment: Feedly is a managed cloud service with no self-hosting option, while FreshRSS runs on your own server.

Feature	FreshRSS	Feedly
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary
Self-hosting	Yes	No
Full-text search	Yes	Paid plans only
Multi-user	Yes, same install	Yes, paid plans
Mobile API	Google Reader + Fever	Proprietary API
Feed limit	50k+ (self-hosted)	Per-plan cap

FreshRSS is the better choice when data ownership matters, when you follow a high volume of feeds without wanting per-plan caps, or when you want shared reading for a household without per-seat fees. Feedly suits readers who want zero infrastructure overhead and are comfortable paying for its AI-powered digest and advanced search features.

FreshRSS vs Inoreader

Both tools target power users tracking large feed catalogs. Inoreader is a commercial platform; FreshRSS is AGPL-3.0 licensed and self-hosted.

Feature	FreshRSS	Inoreader
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary
Self-hosting	Yes	No
Full-text search	Yes	Paid plans only
Advanced filters	Yes, saved queries	Paid plans only
Web scraping	Yes (XPath)	No
Multi-user	Yes, same install	Yes, paid plans

FreshRSS includes full-text search and saved query filters on every installation, features Inoreader puts behind paid tiers. The XPath-based web scraping adds feeds from sites that publish no native RSS, something Inoreader does not offer. Inoreader's advantage is zero server management and a polished mobile experience; it is the better fit for readers who prefer not to maintain their own infrastructure and are willing to pay for that convenience.

install · quick start

Quick start#

bash

Self-hosting FreshRSS uses Docker with the official image to deploy the PHP web application and its web server.
```bash
docker run -d -p 8080:80 freshrss/freshrss
```

tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages: JavaScriptPHP

frequently asked

FAQ#

Is FreshRSS free to use?

Yes. FreshRSS is AGPL-3.0 licensed and free to run on your own server with no subscription fees. There is no paid cloud version; self-hosting is the only way to run it. Your cost is whatever you pay for the server hardware or hosting.

Does FreshRSS work with mobile apps?

Yes. FreshRSS exposes a Google Reader API (recommended, full sync) and a Fever API (limited, for older clients), supported by native apps on Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, and macOS. On Android, Capy Reader and Readrops are actively developed options. Any iOS or desktop client that supports the Google Reader API will connect to a FreshRSS instance.

What server hardware and software does FreshRSS need?

FreshRSS requires PHP 8.2+ with several extensions, a web server (Apache 2.4+, nginx, or lighttpd), and one of PostgreSQL 10+, MariaDB 10.6+, MySQL 8.0+, or SQLite. It runs on a Raspberry Pi 1 at sub-second response times for personal use with 150 feeds. A standard VPS handles multi-user deployments and the documented 50k+ feed ceiling.

Can FreshRSS follow podcasts and YouTube channels?

Yes. FreshRSS follows any RSS or Atom feed, including podcast feeds and YouTube channel RSS feeds. The product website lists following websites, podcasts, and video channels in a single place as a core use case. No separate plugin is required for those feed types.

What does AGPL-3.0 mean for my self-hosted install?

For personal, family, or internal company use, AGPL-3.0 places no restrictions on you. You can run a modified version for yourself or your organization without disclosing your changes. The license only requires source disclosure if you modify FreshRSS and offer the modified version as a hosted service to people or organizations outside your own.

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Hostinger

Self-host FreshRSS on a Hostinger VPS

Keep it running 24/7, even when your laptop is off. A Hostinger VPS gives it a server of its own.

01
Choose a plan
Starts from $6.49/mo
02
Apply
Extra 10% off yearly plans
03
Install FreshRSS
On a server that stays on
04
Start building
Focus on the app, not the server

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