FreshRSS: self-hosted Rss Reader

Why people self-host FreshRSS

FreshRSS is a dependable web feed reader with multi-user support, extensions, and integrations for mobile clients. It is a good fit for readers who want a private feed archive with low maintenance.

The tradeoff is that extension quality and feed cleanup vary. Tune cron frequency, retention, and full-text fetching to match server capacity.

What FreshRSS does well

A fast web reader that handles thousands of feeds and several users on modest hardware.
Google Reader and Fever compatible APIs, so apps like Reeder, NetNewsWire, FeedMe, and Read You can sync with it.
Web scraping with XPath for sites that never offered an RSS feed.
Extensions, themes, saved searches, labels, and OPML import and export.

Who FreshRSS is for

FreshRSS is the comfortable middle of self-hosted RSS readers. It has more features than Miniflux and is easier to live with than Tiny Tiny RSS. It works for one person who left Feedly as well as for a family or a small group sharing a server, each with their own subscriptions.

Deployment notes

FreshRSS is listed with support signals for linux, docker. Check the upstream documentation before exposing it to the internet, review authentication defaults, and keep backups outside the primary host.

It is a PHP app that runs on almost any web host or from the official Docker image. SQLite is fine for one user, with PostgreSQL or MySQL for more. Feeds refresh through cron, either the container's built-in schedule or your own job, and every 15 to 30 minutes is plenty. To use mobile apps, switch on API access in the settings and set a separate API password for your user.

Common questions about FreshRSS

Which mobile apps work with FreshRSS?

Any app that supports the Google Reader or Fever API. Common picks are Reeder and NetNewsWire on iOS and macOS, and FeedMe, Read You, or Capy Reader on Android.

Can FreshRSS follow sites that have no RSS feed?

Yes. You can define a feed by XPath or CSS selectors that point at the article list on a page. It takes a few minutes per site and breaks if the site is redesigned.