FreshRSS
FreeYou decide what you read — no algorithm involved
A self-hosted RSS reader. It aggregates updates from blogs, news sites, podcasts and social accounts into one chronological place, with no recommendation algorithm, no feed ads and no "suggested for you". It implements the Google Reader API, so mainstream mobile RSS apps connect directly.
Why we picked it
The problem with feed apps is not a shortage of content — it is that you no longer choose what you see. An algorithm decides, ads sit in between, and posts from people you actually follow may never surface. An hour later you cannot recall what you read.
RSS is the antidote, and it never went away: the vast majority of blogs, news sites, podcasts and even some social platforms still publish RSS. You subscribe to someone and you see their updates, chronologically, nothing added and nothing withheld.
FreshRSS is the most mature self-hosted reader. 15,770 stars, AGPL-3.0, written in PHP with a footprint low enough that a Raspberry Pi or the cheapest shared hosting handles hundreds of feeds.
What matters in daily use:
- Adjustable fetch intervals, handling large numbers of feeds without strain.
- Filtering and categorization: group feeds, and write rules that auto-mark items containing a keyword as read or keep only matching articles. Essential when a prolific feed is only partly relevant.
- Full-text retrieval: many feeds provide summaries only, and configurable rules fetch the complete article so you never click through.
- Google Reader API compatibility — the most practical feature. Mature mobile clients like Reeder, FeedMe and Fluent Reader connect to your server, so you are not stuck with a self-hosted app's mobile web view.
- OPML import from other readers makes migration painless.
To be clear about:
- You must deploy it. It is a PHP application with an official Docker image, and it also drops onto any host with PHP plus MySQL or SQLite. If you would rather not run a server, see Fluent Reader — a desktop client needing no backend at all.
- Finding feeds is on you. It recommends nothing, which is both the point and the barrier. Feed URLs are often buried; browser extensions that sniff them out help.
- Some sources have no RSS. Certain platforms publish none officially, requiring a bridging service such as RSSHub.
- It is not a read-later tool. Saving articles to read later stripped of clutter is Wallabag's job, and the two are frequently paired.
If you want to take attention back from algorithms, this is the most direct step available.