FreshRSS is a self-hosted RSS feed aggregator written in PHP that lets you run your own news reader on your own infrastructure.
The tool solves the problem of depending on third-party feed services by providing a lightweight, self-hosted alternative. It aggregates RSS and Atom feeds from multiple sources into a single interface. It supports the WebSub standard to receive instant push notifications from compatible sources like WordPress and Blogger, eliminating the need for polling. For sites without feeds, it includes native web scraping capabilities using XPath and JSON document support. The application is multi-user with an optional anonymous reading mode, supports custom tags, and offers an API for mobile clients alongside a command-line interface.
FreshRSS suits developers and users who want full control over their feed infrastructure and prefer not to rely on external services. It works well for small to medium deployments where self-hosting is feasible. The tool is particularly valuable if you need to aggregate feeds from diverse sources and want the flexibility to extend functionality through its extension system. Different authentication methods—web form, HTTP authentication compatible with proxy delegation, and OpenID Connect—make it adaptable to various deployment scenarios.
The project maintains active engagement with its community, welcoming feature requests and bug reports through GitHub issues and describing itself as friendly to contributors. Development infrastructure includes a dev container option to facilitate contributions. The codebase includes documented coding conventions and comprehensive documentation spanning user guides, administrator setup, developer resources, and contributor guidelines.
