FreshRSS vs Kill the Newsletter (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, FreshRSS and Kill the Newsletter share a 3.0 GPA, both are free, so the choice depends on whether you care more about features and platforms, where FreshRSS grades higher, or ease of use, where Kill the Newsletter does.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Kill the Newsletter
Turns email newsletters into Atom feeds for your feed reader
Free
Which one is for you
Pick FreshRSS if
- Fits if you want your feeds on a server you control and will look after it
- Works for households or groups, since one installation serves several users
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you've never set up a web server, because it needs PHP 8.1, a database and you to maintain them
- Not for you if you want an official phone app, as native apps are third-party clients using its API
- Not for you if you want the makers to host it, since hosted instances come from independent providers at their own prices
- Watch out: the README says a few features don't work in a mobile browser
Pick Kill the Newsletter if
- Fits if you already use a feed reader and want newsletters out of your inbox
- Works for someone who wants no tracking on the newsletters they follow
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not have a feed reader
- Not for you if you need old issues: entries older than one month are deleted, sooner if a feed is large
- Watch out: a few newsletters cannot be subscribed to this way, and some publishers block its addresses
- Watch out: the feed address identifies your subscription, so the site says not to share it
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAFreshRSSVery good | 3.0GPAKill the NewsletterVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and substantial: AGPL software with no paid plan anywhere, in a category whose middle plan is $3.33 a month. All you pay for is the server. Hosted instances exist, but they come from independent providers at their own prices. | AFree to use, with no paid plan; the site links to donations. Against the reading category's $4 a month middle, nothing is charged. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with nothing held back, because there is no paid tier to hold it back for. One install even serves several users, so a household can share it. | ACreating as many feeds as you want costs nothing. |
| Features | BIt covers the whole job: websites, podcasts and video channels, search with saved queries, custom tags, themes and extensions, feeds scraped out of pages with XPath for sites that publish none, instant updates where a source supports WebSub, and OpenID Connect logins. | CIt does one job fully: an email address plus a feed, with confirmation emails arriving as entries and no tracking. It is a smaller job than a reader, and it can't reply to a publisher's confirmation request. |
| Ease of use | DYou host it yourself, which is what pins this down: a web server, PHP 8.1 or newer, a PostgreSQL, SQLite, MariaDB or MySQL database, and then keeping the lot patched. Fine if servers are your hobby, a wall if they aren't. | BNo store rating on record. You fill in a form on the home page and paste the feed address into a reader, with nothing to install. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, and the README admits a few features don't work in a mobile browser, but Google Reader and Fever compatible APIs bring in third-party apps on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS and Windows. There's a command-line interface too. | CWeb only, with no apps, and it relies on you having a feed reader. No integrations are listed. |
| Best for | running your own RSS reader on your own server | newsletters in a feed reader instead of your inbox |
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: FreshRSS and Kill the Newsletter. How we grade
Price against what you get
FreshRSS has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kill the Newsletter has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other read-later and bookmark apps on the chart, none scores higher than FreshRSS for less, and none scores higher than Kill the Newsletter 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
- FreshRSS is self-hostable, according to its own site.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceRSS reader
At a glance
| FreshRSS | Kill the Newsletter | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free software under the GNU AGPL 3 license, installed on your own server. The project has no paid plan; hosted instances come from independent providers. | Everything: creating a feed costs nothing. The site links Patreon, PayPal and GitHub Sponsors for donations. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | FreshRSS community | Leandro Facchinetti |
| Price read from | freshrss.org | kill-the-newsletter.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
FreshRSS
- You install and maintain it yourself: it needs a web server, PHP 8.1 or newer and a PostgreSQL, SQLite, MariaDB or MySQL database.
- The project runs no hosted service of its own; public and managed instances come from independent providers with their own prices.
- Reading in a native app depends on third-party clients that connect through the Google Reader or Fever API.
- The README says the web interface works on mobile browsers except for a few features.
Kill the Newsletter
- Entries older than one month are deleted, and older entries may be removed sooner to keep a feed under a size limit.
- It cannot reply to a publisher's confirmation request, so a few newsletters cannot be subscribed to this way.
- Some publishers block its addresses.
- The feed address identifies your subscription, so the site says not to share it.
Key features
FreshRSS
- Feeds, podcasts and video channels
- Follows websites, podcasts and video channels in one place, imports and exports OPML, and receives instant updates from sources that support the WebSub standard.
- Web scraping and generated feeds
- Creates feeds for sites that offer none by scraping pages with XPath or reading JSON documents, and can generate new feeds from your own filters.
- Search, saved queries and tags
- Articles can be searched, searches can be saved as queries for quick access, and custom tags organize what you want to keep.
- Multi-user with several login methods
- One installation serves several users and offers an anonymous reading mode, with login by web form, HTTP authentication or OpenID Connect.
- APIs for mobile and desktop apps
- Google Reader and Fever compatible APIs let third-party apps on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS and Windows sync with a FreshRSS server. A command-line interface is included.
- Themes, extensions and sharing
- Themes and extensions from a dedicated repository customize the reader, and selections of articles can be reshared as HTML, RSS or OPML.
Kill the Newsletter
- Email address plus feed
- Each feed comes with its own email address; mail sent there becomes an entry in the Atom feed.
- Confirmation emails arrive as entries
- Subscription confirmation messages are converted too, so you follow the confirmation link from your reader.
- No tracking
- The site says it does not track users.
- Feed settings in each entry
- Every entry ends with a link to manage the feed, including deleting it.
Plans
FreshRSS
FreshRSS$0
The complete aggregator, self-hosted on a web server with PHP and a PostgreSQL, SQLite, MariaDB or MySQL database.
Kill the Newsletter
Free$0
Create as many feed addresses as you need with the form on the home page.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, FreshRSS or Kill the Newsletter?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both FreshRSS and Kill the Newsletter are free to use.
Which has a free plan, FreshRSS or Kill the Newsletter?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both FreshRSS and Kill the Newsletter 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.