Miniflux Alternative: SereneReader Compared
Miniflux is open source and runs on your own server, or hosted for $15 a year. SereneReader is a hosted reader with a free plan and native Apple apps.
Who runs the server
Miniflux and SereneReader agree on the basics: feeds in date order with no ranking algorithm, a plain interface, and keyboard shortcuts for moving through articles.
The difference is who runs it. Miniflux is open-source software, a Go program backed by PostgreSQL, that you install on your own server; its developer also sells a hosted version. SereneReader is available only as a hosted service, with a web app, native apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, and a focus mode (press f) that hides the sidebar and article list.
At a glance
| SereneReader | Miniflux | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Our hosted service | Your server, or the official hosted service |
| Price | Free plan (150 feeds); Pro $5/mo (web) or $6.99/mo (App Store); Team $25/mo | Free to self-host; hosted $15/yr after a 15-day trial |
| Article history | 90 days on every plan; saved articles kept longer on Pro and Team | Hosted: read entries removed after 30 days, unread after 60 |
| Source code | Closed | Open source (Apache 2.0) |
| Feed formats | RSS, Atom | RSS, Atom, JSON Feed |
| Search | Article search (titles, summaries, authors) | Searches full article text (PostgreSQL) |
| Full-content fetching | No | Yes |
| Apps | Web, plus native apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch | Web app, installable as a PWA; third-party clients |
| API | Read-only REST API (Pro, Team); no third-party app support | REST API, plus Fever and Google Reader APIs for third-party apps |
| More than one person | Team: up to 5 people sharing feeds and folders | Multiple users per install, each with separate feeds |
| Privacy | Strips tracking pixels from articles; serves feed icons itself; no image proxy | Strips tracking pixels and URL tracking parameters; media proxy; referrer blocking |
| Integrations | None built in (API only) | 25+ built in |
Reasons to pick Miniflux
- Open source, on your own server. Miniflux is Apache 2.0 licensed, so you can read and change the code and keep your data on hardware you control. SereneReader is closed source.
- Price. Self-hosting costs whatever your server costs, and hosted Miniflux is $15 a year, the lowest paid price among the readers we compare. A year of SereneReader Pro on the web is $60.
- Privacy tools. Miniflux removes tracking pixels and tracking parameters from links, proxies images and other media, and blocks referrers. SereneReader strips tracking pixels and opens links in articles without sending a referrer, but images in articles load directly from the publisher's site.
- Works with other apps. Fever and Google Reader-compatible APIs let many third-party RSS apps sync with Miniflux, and its 25+ integrations can send articles on to other services. SereneReader's API is read-only and isn't built for third-party RSS apps.
- More from each feed. Miniflux can fetch full articles from summary-only feeds, searches the full text of articles, and reads JSON Feed as well as RSS and Atom. SereneReader shows the content the feed provides and searches titles, summaries and authors.
Reasons to pick SereneReader
- No server to run. Sign up and import your OPML; there's no database to back up and no software to update. The free plan holds 150 feeds, has no trial period, and doesn't need a credit card. Hosted Miniflux needs a paid account after 15 days.
- Native Apple apps. SereneReader has first-party apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch that use the same account as the web app. Miniflux has an installable web app and relies on third-party clients for native apps. See the apps.
- Longer history than hosted Miniflux. SereneReader keeps 90 days of articles on every plan, read or unread. Saved articles (starred, in Read Later, or filed in an article folder) are kept for 90 days on Free, 180 on Pro, and with no limit on Team.
- Shared feeds for a team. A Miniflux install can host several users, but each keeps a separate feed list. On SereneReader Team ($25 a month, up to five people), everyone reads from the same feeds and folders and keeps their own read state.
Bringing your feeds over from Miniflux
In Miniflux, go to Feeds > Export to download an OPML file, or fetch it from the API at GET /v1/export. Import the file into SereneReader, and your categories become folders. OPML carries subscriptions only, so starred entries stay in Miniflux. The free plan's import limit is 150 feeds.
Pricing and features as of October 2026. Check each product's website for current details.