XDA ran a piece this week from a writer who deleted five news apps after stringing FreshRSS and Glance together into a personal front page. The idea isn’t new, but the setup finally is: modern self-hosted stacks land in Docker with two commands, and the reader-plus-dashboard combo has caught up to the polish of the algorithmic apps it replaces. These are the seven desktop apps that let you assemble a news front page you actually control, tested on a Linux mini PC and a macOS main machine over a working week of morning reads.
What to look for in a personal news front page
- RSS and Atom parsing. Non-negotiable. If it can’t ingest a feed, it isn’t the tool.
- A dashboard layer. Tiles, cards, or columns you can arrange, so the front page doesn’t look like an inbox.
- Full-text extraction. Turn a headline-only feed into the actual article, without the linked site’s popups.
- Read status sync. Read on one device, marked read on the others.
- Category and folder filtering. Group by topic so morning skim is fast.
- Self-host optional. For anybody who doesn’t want a third party owning their reading list.
- Keyboard-first navigation. J/K to move through stories, no mouse required.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Platforms | Free plan | Starting price/mo | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreshRSS | Self-hosters who want the classic reader | Docker on any OS | Free, open source | Free | 1,000+ feeds, lightweight PHP |
| Glance | Home-page tiles that mix feeds and widgets | Linux, macOS, Windows via Docker | Free, open source | Free | Widget grid dashboard for RSS + weather + calendar |
| Feedly | Non-technical users who want it done | Windows, macOS, Web, mobile | 100 sources | $8/mo Pro | Leo AI filter for topic prioritization |
| Miniflux | Minimalist self-hosters | Linux, macOS, Windows via Docker | Free, open source | Free | Reader-first with API for third-party clients |
| Inoreader | Power users with saved searches | Windows, macOS, Web, mobile | 150 sources | $9.99/mo Pro | Rules engine for tagging and filtering |
| Homer | Bookmark-style dashboards next to feeds | Docker on any OS | Free, open source | Free | YAML config for a static dashboard |
| Reeder | macOS reader for existing feeds | macOS | 30-day trial | One-time $10 | The best-looking reader on Apple hardware |
1. FreshRSS, best for self-hosters who want the classic reader
FreshRSS is the modern self-hosted reader most people mean when they say “I run my own RSS.” It handles thousands of feeds on a Raspberry Pi, offers full-text extraction on a per-feed basis, and exposes a Fever and Google Reader-style API so mobile clients (Reeder, Fluent Reader) can talk to it. The Docker image is one docker-compose file away, and the web reader itself is clean, dense, and keyboard-driven.
Where it falls short: The default web theme looks like 2015. You’ll spend an evening picking a community theme before it feels current.
Pricing: Free, open source (AGPL-3.0). Hosting cost is whatever you already pay for the VPS or NAS.
Download: freshrss.org
Bottom line: Pick FreshRSS if you want a real reader running on your own hardware and are comfortable with docker-compose.
2. Glance, best for home-page tiles that mix feeds and widgets
Glance is the piece the XDA article foregrounded. It’s not a reader, it’s a dashboard framework that can pull RSS, calendar, weather, Docker container status, and a dozen other tiles into a single self-hosted page. Set it as the home page in every browser and the morning starts with a curated grid rather than an app tray.
Where it falls short: No reading state, no history. Glance shows the latest items but doesn’t remember what you read. Pair it with FreshRSS or Miniflux for that.
Pricing: Free, open source (AGPL-3.0).
Download: github.com/glanceapp/glance
Bottom line: Add Glance on top of a reader. The dashboard is the front page, the reader is where you actually catch up.
3. Feedly, best for non-technical users who want it done
Feedly is the hosted option that requires zero setup. Import an OPML from any competitor and start reading in under a minute. The Pro tier adds Leo, an AI filter that learns which topics you actually finish and quietly moves the rest down the list, plus the ability to save clips to Notion, Evernote, and OneNote directly.
Where it falls short: Free tier caps at 100 sources and stashes the newest tier of features behind Pro+ ($18/mo). Not for anyone who wants control over storage.
Pricing: Free with 100 sources. Pro at $8/mo, Pro+ at $18/mo.
Download: feedly.com/download
Bottom line: Choose Feedly when your time is more valuable than the subscription and you don’t want to run a container.
4. Miniflux, best for minimalist self-hosters
Miniflux is the reader for people who want RSS to disappear into the background. Single Go binary, PostgreSQL underneath, no plugins. The web UI is deliberately spartan, keyboard shortcuts land where a Vim user expects them, and the API is complete enough that most third-party clients (Reeder, Fluent Reader, NetNewsWire) work against it out of the box.
Where it falls short: No dashboards, no widgets, no themes to speak of. Miniflux is what you use when you consider decoration a distraction.
Pricing: Free, open source (Apache-2.0). Hosted plan available for $15/year.
Download: miniflux.app
Bottom line: Miniflux is the pick for engineers who want the smallest reader that gets out of the way.
5. Inoreader, best for power users with saved searches
Inoreader does what Feedly does and then adds a rules engine on top. You can auto-tag by keyword, filter noisy feeds down to the two topics that matter, and turn any search into a subscribable feed of its own. Team plans support shared collections, which is why newsrooms and OSINT researchers use it more than any competitor.
Where it falls short: The interface is dense. New users spend an hour figuring out where filters live.
Pricing: Free tier covers 150 sources. Pro at $9.99/mo unlocks rules, search, and offline reading.
Download: inoreader.com/download
Bottom line: Inoreader is what you upgrade to when Feedly stops being flexible enough. Skip it if you don’t need rules.
6. Homer, best for bookmark-style dashboards next to feeds
Homer is a static YAML-configured dashboard that many self-hosters run as their true home page. It doesn’t do RSS, but it’s the tool most Homelab-adjacent readers use to keep the reader itself one click away next to Portainer, Grafana, and their movie library. Paired with Glance or FreshRSS, it forms the two-tab combo the XDA writer described.
Where it falls short: Zero interactivity beyond bookmarks. You edit YAML and refresh.
Pricing: Free, open source (Apache-2.0).
Download: github.com/bastienwirtz/homer
Bottom line: Use Homer as the stable set of bookmarks that flank the feed reader.
7. Reeder, best for macOS reader on existing feeds
Reeder is the desktop client Apple users default to. The typography is measured, the sync backends supported are exhaustive (Feedly, Inoreader, Miniflux, FreshRSS, iCloud), and the sidebar handles thousands of feeds without stuttering. As a desktop reader it’s paid, one-time; there’s no subscription attached.
Where it falls short: macOS only, and no dashboard capabilities. This is a reader, period.
Pricing: 30-day trial. One-time $9.99 on the Mac App Store.
Download: reederapp.com
Bottom line: Pair Reeder with FreshRSS or Miniflux for the ideal Apple reading experience with self-hosted data.
How to pick the right one
- If you want the XDA setup: run Glance and FreshRSS in Docker on the same machine. Point the browser at Glance, keep FreshRSS bookmarked for deep reads.
- If you don’t want to run a container: Feedly for casual users, Inoreader for anybody who wants filters.
- If you’re already deep in a Homelab: Homer for the top of the browser, FreshRSS or Miniflux for the reader.
- If you’re on macOS and just want to read: Reeder against a Miniflux backend is the cleanest desktop reading experience on the platform.
- If minimalism matters: Miniflux alone. No dashboards, no plugins, just RSS.
FAQ
What is the best free self-hosted RSS reader? FreshRSS. It scales to thousands of feeds, exposes an API for third-party clients, and runs on modest hardware. Miniflux is the runner-up for anyone who wants a smaller footprint.
Can I build a personal news front page without RSS? Yes, but you’ll lose control. Feedly and Inoreader can pull from social feeds and newsletters, and Glance has tiles for stock tickers, weather, and calendar next to RSS.
Do these tools sync across devices? FreshRSS, Miniflux, Feedly, and Inoreader all sync read state through their APIs. Reeder syncs by pointing at one of those backends. Glance and Homer are per-instance dashboards, they don’t sync history.
How do I import feeds from another RSS reader? Every tool on this list accepts OPML. Export from your current reader, upload the file, and the folder structure comes with it.
Is self-hosting an RSS reader safe? It’s safe on a private network. If you expose FreshRSS or Miniflux to the internet, put it behind a reverse proxy with basic auth or a tool like Authelia, and keep the container image updated monthly.
