FreshRSS
A self hosted RSS reader that keeps your feeds and your attention
FreshRSS collects articles from RSS and Atom feeds into one reader you host, with sync to mobile apps through standard APIs. It is AGPL-3.0, written in PHP, and light enough to run anywhere.
Best for when
- you want to follow blogs and news without an algorithmic feed
- you want read status synced between your laptop and phone
- you want a reader that runs on almost no resources
Watch out for
- many sites no longer publish full text feeds, so you often click through
- the interface is functional rather than beautiful
- remote access needs a VPN or a tunnel, with a strong password
Reading on your terms
Feeds give you every new article from the sites and blogs you choose, in order, with no algorithm deciding what you see. FreshRSS fetches them on a schedule, lets you sort them into categories, and keeps read status across devices.
It supports the Google Reader and Fever APIs, so many mobile readers can sync with it. It can also build feeds for some sites that do not offer one, using selectors you define.
Running it
It is light: a PHP app with SQLite or PostgreSQL and a scheduled refresh. Storage depends on how many articles you keep, and the retention settings let you trim old ones.
If you read from your phone away from home, use a VPN or put it behind a tunnel with a strong login. Back up the data folder or database so you keep your subscriptions and saved articles.
