Miniflux vs selfoss (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Miniflux grades higher than selfoss: 3.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Miniflux grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
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
Which one is for you
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
Pick selfoss if
- Fits if you already run a PHP server and want your feeds on it
- Works for someone who wants to own their reading data
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you do not want to install and update software yourself
- Skip it if you want a hosted service: there is none
- Watch out: it needs a PHP web server and a database
- Watch out: the Android app is third party, not from the selfoss project
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAMinifluxVery good | 2.0GPAselfossFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CThe software is free, but only if you host it yourself, which needs a server, so it sits at the ordinary C. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | BFree and open source, with no paid plan. You pay only for your own hosting, and there is no hosted version to try. |
| Features | 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. | CAggregates feeds, takes plug-in sources, imports and exports OPML and has a JSON API. It does the reader job with a light install, but nothing in the listing shows reading extras like search across a library. |
| Ease of use | 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. | DNo store rating on record, and it needs a PHP web server, a database, setup and your own updates. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | CA web app only. The Android app is third party, not from the selfoss project, and no other integrations are listed. |
| Best for | a plain, private feed reader for $15 a year | a self-hosted RSS reader you run yourself |
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: Miniflux and selfoss. How we grade
Price against what you get
Miniflux starts at $1.25 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. selfoss has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
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 Miniflux for less, and none scores higher than selfoss 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
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublic APIRSS reader
At a glance
| Miniflux | selfoss | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Everything: the software is free and open source; you pay only for your own hosting. |
| 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 | ||
| Made by | Frédéric Guillot | Tobias Zeising |
| Price read from | miniflux.app | selfoss.aditu.de |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
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.
selfoss
- There is no hosted service: you install, configure and update it yourself.
- It needs a PHP web server and a database.
- The Android app is third party, not from the selfoss project.
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.
selfoss
- Universal aggregator
- Collects feeds, tweets and other posts into a single stream.
- Light install
- A PHP application of around 25 MB that you upload and run, with MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQLite as the database.
- Plug-in sources
- An open plug-in system lets you write your own data connectors, called spouts.
- OPML import and export
- Bring feeds from other readers by importing an OPML file.
- JSON API
- A RESTful JSON API for developers; the site also lists a third-party Android app.
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.
selfoss
Self-hosted$0
Download the release and run it on your own PHP server; there is no hosted version.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Miniflux or selfoss?
As of Nov 13, 2026, selfoss is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $1.25 a month when paid by the year for Miniflux. Miniflux starts at $15 per year (hosted version), and selfoss is free.
Which has a free plan, Miniflux or selfoss?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Miniflux and selfoss 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.