# RSS Guard

> Open-source desktop feed reader and podcast player

RSS Guard is an open-source desktop feed reader and podcast player developed by Martin Rotter on top of the Qt library. It reads RSS, RDF, Atom and JSON feeds stored locally, or syncs with online readers such as Feedly, Inoreader, FreshRSS, Miniflux, Nextcloud News and Tiny Tiny RSS. It is free under the GNU GPLv3, runs on Windows, Linux and macOS, and is supported by optional donations.

- **Category:** Read Later & Bookmarks
- **Made by:** Martin Rotter
- **Website:** https://github.com/martinrotter/rssguard
- **Runs on:** Windows, Linux, macOS
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 6, 2026

## Pricing

RSS Guard is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** Free
- **Free plan:** 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:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 | The complete application for Windows, Linux and macOS, with every service plugin and feature included. |

Read from https://github.com/martinrotter/rssguard on Oct 6, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with RSS Guard before buying.

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

- 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.

## Works with

Feedly, Gmail, Inoreader, FreshRSS, Miniflux, The Old Reader, Nextcloud News, Tiny Tiny RSS

**Tags:** RSS reader, Open source

## Alternatives

- [FeedFlow](https://toolgpa.com/tools/feedflow): Free, open-source RSS reader for mobile and desktop. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/feedflow-vs-rss-guard)
- [NetNewsWire](https://toolgpa.com/tools/netnewswire): Free, open-source RSS reader for Mac, iPhone and iPad. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/netnewswire-vs-rss-guard)
- [Folo](https://toolgpa.com/tools/folo): Open-source RSS reader with AI summaries and translation. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/folo-vs-rss-guard)
- [FreshRSS](https://toolgpa.com/tools/freshrss): Free, self-hosted RSS and Atom feed aggregator. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/freshrss-vs-rss-guard)
- [Miniflux](https://toolgpa.com/tools/miniflux): Minimalist open-source feed reader, self-hosted or hosted. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/miniflux-vs-rss-guard)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 6, 2026:

- https://github.com/martinrotter/rssguard
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/what.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/donations.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/supported-os.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/downloads.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/supported-readers.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/features/filters.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/features/queries.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/features/labels.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/features/mediaplayer.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/features/extractor.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/features/db.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/features/skins.html
- https://rssguard.readthedocs.io/en/stable/features/notifications.html

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/rss-guard
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).