FreshRSS vs RSS Guard

FreshRSS

• People who want to run their own RSS reader on a small server
• Households or groups sharing one multi-user installation
• Following sites that publish no feed, using the built-in scraping

RSS Guard

• Windows and Linux users who want a free, open-source desktop reader
• People syncing with FreshRSS, Miniflux, Tiny Tiny RSS or Nextcloud News
• Power users who want scripted filters and SQL-style saved searches

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.

RSS Guard

• It is a desktop application: no web app and no iOS or Android app is listed.
• Official Windows builds are not digitally signed, so SmartScreen may warn on first launch, and macOS Gatekeeper may block the app.
• The docs say macOS packages are not well tested and support only the SQLite database backend.
• The project warns that the rssguard.com website is unrelated; official downloads are on the GitHub Releases page.

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.

RSS Guard

Local feeds or online services

A multi-account app: standard feeds can be stored locally, or an account can sync two ways with Feedly, Gmail, Google Reader API services, Nextcloud News or Tiny Tiny RSS.

Article filters

Scripted filters can change incoming articles, mark them important, assign labels or reject them. The docs describe filters as a tool for advanced users that can slow feed updates.

Labels and saved queries

Any number of labels can be assigned to an article, and a Query keeps a search in the feed list, written as a regular expression or an SQL WHERE clause.

Built-in media player

Podcasts and other audio or video play inside the app through a libmpv-based player or a simpler QtMultimedia one, depending on the build.

Full-article extraction

A bundled article extractor powers the Fetch full articles feature, pulling the main readable content from a web page, and it can also be called from scripts.

Skins, notifications and databases

Skins restyle the interface and the article viewer, desktop notifications are configurable by event, and data is kept in SQLite by default or on a MariaDB server.

FreshRSS

• FreshRSS$0

  The complete aggregator, self-hosted on a web server with PHP and a PostgreSQL, SQLite, MariaDB or MySQL database.

RSS Guard

• Free$0

  The complete application for Windows, Linux and macOS, with every service plugin and feature included.