CommaFeed vs Miniflux (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Miniflux grades higher than CommaFeed: 3.2 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Miniflux grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Miniflux
Minimalist open-source feed reader, self-hosted or hosted
Which one is for you
Pick CommaFeed if
- Fits if you want a plain web reader and are happy to let a volunteer project host it
- Works for people who run their own server and read through a Fever-compatible phone app
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want an official iPhone or Android app, because there isn't one
- Tight if you rely on the public instance, since its limits aren't spelled out in the README and it's funded by donations
- Not for you if you want to follow newsletters or social accounts, as it reads feeds only
- Watch out: self-hosting means you run and update it yourself, on your own server
Pick Miniflux if
- Fits if you want a plain reader with no ads, tracking or telemetry, driven from the keyboard
- Works for people who'd rather pay $15 a year than look after a server
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want native apps, as it runs in a browser and leans on third-party phone apps
- Not for you if you keep old articles, since the hosted version removes read ones after 30 days and unread after 60
- Too light for you if you want a reader you never administer, because the free route is a PostgreSQL server you run
- Watch out: hosted accounts have no password reset and are deleted 30 days after a subscription lapses
- Watch out: the 15-day hosted trial account is removed if you don't subscribe, and hosted feeds refresh every 1 to 2 hours
How we grade them
| 2.6GPACommaFeedGood | 3.2GPAMinifluxVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree on the public instance, with no ads or tracking, and free to self-host under Apache 2.0, so it undercuts the $2.50 that a cheap reading app starts at. | AThe hosted version is $15 a year, which is $1.25 a month. Reading apps here start at $2.42 a month in the cheapest quarter, so it's under almost every price in the category, and it isn't renewed automatically. Run it on your own server and the software costs nothing. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe public instance is free for good and one person could live on it, though the README says it comes with limits compared with self-hosting and doesn't list them itself. | AThe whole reader is free and open source under Apache 2.0, with nothing held back for payers. The catch is where you put it: there's no free hosted plan, only a 15-day trial, and that account is removed if you don't subscribe. |
| Features | CFour layouts, keyboard shortcuts, auto-read rules, OPML and a REST API. The gaps the listing shows: no mobile app of its own and a public instance with unnamed limits. | BIt covers the feed-reading job: RSS, Atom and JSON Feed, OPML in and out, original-article fetching when a feed is summary-only, your own scraper and rewrite rules, tracker stripping, full-text search, regex filters and saving to 25-odd services. No apps of its own, though, and hosted only keeps starred articles. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. You sign up on the public instance and add feeds, which is quick, but the self-hosted route means Docker or a JVM build. | CNo store rating on record. The hosted version is sign up and read, but self-hosting means running PostgreSQL, the only database it works with, and either way you lean on a third-party phone app because Miniflux has none. The hosted version has no password reset either. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only. Phones use the responsive site or a third-party app through the Fever or Google Reader APIs, and there is no desktop or phone app from the project. | BA web app with no native apps, which is what keeps it off an A. What it has is the plumbing: a REST API with Go and Python clients, webhooks, Fever and Google Reader compatibility so phone apps can sync, and saving on to Instapaper, Wallabag, Notion and Pinboard. |
| Best for | a free web RSS reader you can host yourself | a plain, private feed reader for $15 a year |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CommaFeed and Miniflux. How we grade
Price against what you get
CommaFeed has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Miniflux starts at $1.25 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7.
Miniflux scores higher, and starts $1.25 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other read-later and bookmark apps on the chart, none scores higher than CommaFeed for less, and none scores higher than Miniflux for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| CommaFeed | Miniflux | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $15 per year (hosted version) |
| Free plan | None | The software is free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license when run on your own server. The hosted version has no free plan, only a 15-day trial. |
| Free trial | None listed | 15-day free trial of the hosted version; the account and its data are removed if you do not subscribe |
| Web | ||
| Made by | CommaFeed project | Frédéric Guillot |
| Price read from | raw.githubusercontent.com | miniflux.app |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Worth knowing
CommaFeed
- The public instance has limits compared with self-hosting; the README points to a discussion thread that lists them.
- The public instance is funded by donations, so continued availability depends on them.
- There is no first-party mobile app; phones use the responsive web app or a Fever-compatible app.
Miniflux
- There are no native apps: Miniflux runs in a browser and relies on third-party mobile apps through the Fever or Google Reader API.
- Self-hosting requires PostgreSQL, the only database Miniflux works with.
- On the hosted version, read articles are removed after 30 days and unread ones after 60; only starred articles are kept.
- The hosted version has no password reset feature, and accounts are deleted 30 days after a subscription lapses.
Key features
CommaFeed
- Layouts and themes
- Four layouts, light and dark themes, and a responsive design that the README says works on mobile and desktop.
- Keyboard and rules
- Shortcuts for almost everything, plus user-defined rules that mark matching articles as read automatically.
- Native app support
- Fever and Google Reader APIs let outside mobile apps connect, and a REST API is available.
- Import and export
- Moves subscriptions in and out with OPML, and sends push notifications when new articles are published.
- Customizable
- Custom CSS and JavaScript change the look and behavior, and a separate browser extension is published for it.
Miniflux
- Feed reading
- Reads Atom, RSS and JSON Feed, imports and exports OPML, handles podcast, video and image enclosures, and plays YouTube videos inside the reader.
- Original article fetching
- When a feed shows only a summary, Miniflux can fetch the original page and extract the article with a local Readability parser. Custom scraper and rewrite rules are supported.
- Privacy protections
- Removes pixel trackers and tracking parameters from URLs, proxies media, blocks external JavaScript and sends no referrer. There is no telemetry or advertising.
- Keyboard-driven interface
- A minimal, responsive web interface with a wide range of keyboard shortcuts, optional touch gestures, light, dark and system themes, and custom stylesheets.
- Categories, search and filters
- Articles are organized with categories and bookmarks, searched in full text through Postgres, included or excluded by regex filters, and can be shared publicly one at a time.
- Integrations and API
- Saves articles to more than 25 services, sends webhooks, offers a REST API with Go and Python clients, and works with mobile apps that support the Fever or Google Reader API.
Plans
CommaFeed
Public instance$0
Free hosted instance with no ads or tracking, funded by donations, with a few limits compared with self-hosting.
Self-hosted$0
Apache 2.0 software you run yourself with Docker, a native package or a JVM build; you pay only for your own server.
Miniflux
Self-hostedFree
The complete open-source reader on your own server, shipped as a single binary, Debian and RPM packages or a Docker image.
Paid Hosting$15
per year, not renewed automatically
Run by Miniflux's developer on a server in Finland, with feeds refreshed every 1-2 hours and email support in English or French.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, CommaFeed or Miniflux?
As of Nov 12, 2026, CommaFeed is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $1.25 a month when paid by the year for Miniflux. CommaFeed is free, and Miniflux starts at $15 per year (hosted version).
Which has a free plan, CommaFeed or Miniflux?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both CommaFeed and Miniflux have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.