Miniflux vs RSS Guard
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
Free plan · from $15/yr
Where they differ
- Miniflux starts at $15 per year (hosted version). RSS Guard is free.
- Only Miniflux lists a web app.
- Only RSS Guard lists Windows, Linux and macOS apps.
- Miniflux is self-hostable, according to its own site.
In commonFree planOpen sourceRSS reader
At a glance
| Miniflux | RSS Guard | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $15 per year (hosted version) | Free |
| Free plan | 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 and open source under the GNU GPLv3, with no paid version. The author accepts optional donations through GitHub Sponsors, Liberapay and Patreon. |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial of the hosted version; the account and its data are removed if you do not subscribe | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Frédéric Guillot | Martin Rotter |
| Price read from | miniflux.app | github.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Miniflux
- Readers who want a fast, plain RSS reader with no ads or tracking
- Self-hosters comfortable running a server with PostgreSQL
- People who navigate their feeds with keyboard shortcuts
- Anyone looking for a low-cost hosted RSS reader
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
Worth knowing
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.
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.
Key features
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.
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.
Plans
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.
RSS Guard
Free$0
The complete application for Windows, Linux and macOS, with every service plugin and feature included.
