FreshRSS
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 15 RSS readers by recommenders
People recommend FreshRSS as an easy-to-install, self-hosted feed reader that syncs reliably across devices and works well with other tools.
People recommend FreshRSS as an easy-to-install, self-hosted feed reader that syncs reliably across devices and works well with other tools.
26 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 26
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 26 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy to self-host
“Easily self-host the next best thing, FreshRSS, with docker, a web interface and secure HTTPS.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Self-hosted RSS reader with Docker and HTTPS” “Personally I just self-hosted a personal FreshRSS instance”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Making RSS More Fun” “Current setup is freshrss running in a proxmox lxc on prem”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “The View from RSS” - Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “NetNewsWire Turns 23”
Syncs across devices
“I'm self hosting freshrss, so my subscriptions can be synced between my phone and computer.”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Who do you follow via RSS feed?” “syncing with single source is essential.”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “The Death of Social Media Is the Renaissance of RSS” Reliable and works without fuss
“I use FreshRSS and its URL matching is pretty reliable.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “YouTube, your RSS feeds are broken” “it chugs along brilliantly without issue”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “What I self-host” “It does everything I need with no fuss.”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “The View from RSS” - Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Using Thunderbird for RSS”
- Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Site Spy – Track webpage changes with diffs, element picking, and RSS”
Works well with other tools
“FreshRSS (share to Wallabag enabled) + Wallabag + KOReader (on kobo). I've been toying”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “I turned my RSS feeds into an e-ink newspaper to stop reading on my phone” “FreshRSS supports this workflow well”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Making RSS More Fun” “It works great with freshrss.”
Comment from 15 Mar 2026 in “Grandparents are glued to their phones, families are worried [video]”
Other RSS readers people recommend
The four most recommended other RSS readers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetNewsWire | 79 | 7 | 92% | 10 | 4 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Miniflux | 27 | 0 | 100% | 8 | 1 mo5 owners | Approved |
| FreshRSSThis page | 26 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Inoreader | 20 | 1 | 95% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Newsboat | 12 | 1 | 92% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
26 of the 30 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“If you'd rather self-host, FreshRSS and Miniflux are the usual picks.”
“it chugs along brilliantly without issue”
“FreshRSS (share to Wallabag enabled) + Wallabag + KOReader (on kobo). I've been toying”
“Most of the stuff I use is free and excellent.”
“I've found a workable approach, browsing HN with my feed reader (FreshRSS, in this case).”
“freshrss will do that for you. It has a built in web scraper.”
“RSS makes life so much easier, some only provide the bare minimal while others, provide the whole post”
“I use FreshRSS and its URL matching is pretty reliable.”
“now just rely on recommendations + rss (via freshrss) or tubearchivist to keep me up to date”
“I consider it a solid hedge against enshittification”
“Still the greatest way to consume media on the web.”
“It works great with freshrss.”
“have no problems using FreshRSS”
“with a much better web app”
“Works like a charm for me”
“syncing with single source is essential.”
“It does everything I need with no fuss.”
“Current setup is freshrss running in a proxmox lxc on prem”
“FreshRSS was also really easy to install.”
“I'm self hosting freshrss, so my subscriptions can be synced between my phone and computer.”
“all great projects, but something was always missing”
“Self-hosted FreshRSS to grab the content and reading on a Proper Browser”
“I'm quite enthusiastic about my FreshRSS instance.”
“Easily self-host the next best thing, FreshRSS, with docker, a web interface and secure HTTPS.”
“Personally I just self-hosted a personal FreshRSS instance”
“FreshRSS supports this workflow well”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.