Build Your RSS Backend for SmartRSS: A Beginner's Guide to FreshRSS, Miniflux, RSSHub, and RSS-Bridge

This guide walks you through setting up a self-hosted RSS backend with FreshRSS, Miniflux, RSSHub, and RSS-Bridge, even if you’ve never touched a server before. They all work with SmartRSS, so your feeds stay under your control.

Why build your own RSS backend?

You get:

Your feeds sync across all your devices through SmartRSS
Your reading habits stay on your own server
No monthly fees beyond the VPS
No limit on the number of subscriptions
It’s fast, since it runs on your own infrastructure

What you’ll need

A VPS (Virtual Private Server) - $5-10/month
About 30 minutes of your time
No coding experience required!

Quick start: try official instances first

Before setting up your own server, you can try these official demo instances:

Official FreshRSS demo

https://demo.freshrss.org/

Clean interface, mobile-friendly, good API support. Good for beginners who want a traditional RSS experience.

Official Miniflux demo

https://miniflux.app/ (offers a free trial)

Modern design, excellent keyboard shortcuts, and a powerful API. Good for power users who want speed and efficiency.

Both demos let you test the services before deciding which one to self-host. Both work with SmartRSS.

Step 1: Get your VPS ready

Choosing and purchasing a VPS

RSS hosting doesn’t need much. What I recommend:

Minimum: 1GB RAM, 1 CPU core, 20GB storage
Comfortable: 2GB RAM, 1 CPU core, 40GB storage
Cost: $5-10/month

Easy providers for beginners:

DigitalOcean: most beginner-friendly, good tutorials
Linode: excellent performance, good support
Vultr: simple interface, reliable service

Deploy your server

Create an account at your chosen provider
Click “Create Droplet/Server”
Choose Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
Pick the $5-10/month plan
Click “Create” and wait 2-3 minutes
You’ll get an email with your server IP and password!

Step 2: Connect to your server

Open your terminal (or PowerShell on Windows) and connect:

ssh root@your_server_ip

The first time, you’ll be asked “Are you sure you want to continue connecting?” Type yes and press Enter.

Then paste the password from your VPS provider’s email. It won’t show on screen as you type, that’s normal.

Step 3: Install Docker

Just copy and paste this single command:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

This installs Docker and everything it needs. Grab a coffee, it takes 2-3 minutes.

Test the installation

docker run hello-world

If you see “Hello from Docker!”, you’re ready.

Step 4: Choose your RSS services

You’ll pick one main reader. RSSHub and RSS-Bridge are optional extras for generating feeds from sites that don’t have their own:

The main RSS reader (pick one)

You need one main RSS reader to manage your feeds:

FreshRSS: the beginner-friendly choice

FreshRSS suits first-time self-hosters, or anyone who wants a traditional, familiar interface and simplicity over advanced features.

Clean, intuitive web interface
Easy mobile app integration
Good API support for SmartRSS
Simple setup and maintenance
Large community and documentation

It uses about 100MB of RAM.

Miniflux: the power user’s choice

Miniflux suits experienced users who want maximum speed, keyboard shortcuts, minimal distraction-free reading, and a modern tech stack.

Very fast
Excellent keyboard navigation
Powerful filtering and search
Modern, responsive design
Built-in feed fetching optimization

It uses about 150MB of RAM including PostgreSQL.

Can’t decide? Start with FreshRSS. It’s easier for beginners, and you can switch later.

Optional: RSSHub

Many modern websites (YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, etc.) don’t provide RSS feeds anymore. RSSHub generates feeds for them.

Why you might want it:

Feeds from 400+ platforms
Social media feeds: YouTube channels, Twitter users, Instagram posts
Custom feeds from specific websites, filters, or keywords
Control over feed content, update frequency, and format
Free and open, no API keys needed

Some examples:

Get RSS feeds from your favorite YouTube channels
Follow Twitter users without using Twitter
Track Instagram posts from specific accounts
Monitor Telegram channels
Create feeds from websites that don’t have RSS
And hundreds more

It uses about 200MB of RAM with Redis.

My recommendation: start without RSSHub. Add it later if you need feeds from social media or non-RSS sites.

Optional: RSS-Bridge

RSS-Bridge does the same job as RSSHub: it generates RSS and Atom feeds for websites that don’t provide their own. It runs as a single PHP container, no database or cache needed. You control which bridges are enabled with a whitelist file.

My recommendation: same as RSSHub. Install it only if you need feeds from sites without RSS.

Step 5: Set up your service

Create the project directory

mkdir -p ~/rss-services
cd ~/rss-services

Option A: FreshRSS (recommended for beginners)

mkdir freshrss && cd freshrss
nano docker-compose.yml

version: "3.8"

services:
  freshrss:
    image: freshrss/freshrss:latest
    container_name: freshrss
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ./freshrss-data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data
      - ./freshrss-extensions:/var/www/FreshRSS/extensions
    environment:
      - CRON_MIN=*/10
      - TZ=Asia/Shanghai

Change TZ to your timezone. Save and exit with Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Option B: Miniflux (for power users)

cd ~/rss-services
mkdir miniflux && cd miniflux
nano docker-compose.yml

Copy and paste this configuration:

version: "3.8"

services:
  miniflux:
    image: miniflux/miniflux:latest
    container_name: miniflux
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8081:8080"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://miniflux:secret@miniflux-db/miniflux?sslmode=disable
      - RUN_MIGRATIONS=1
      - CREATE_ADMIN=1
      - ADMIN_USERNAME=admin
      - ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme
      - BASE_URL=http://your_server_ip:8081
      - CLEANUP_FREQUENCY=24
      - POLLING_FREQUENCY=60
      - TZ=Asia/Shanghai
    depends_on:
      - miniflux-db

  miniflux-db:
    image: postgres:15
    container_name: miniflux-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=miniflux
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret
      - POSTGRES_DB=miniflux
    volumes:
      - miniflux-db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U miniflux"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  miniflux-db:

Change these to your own values:

ADMIN_USERNAME: your username
ADMIN_PASSWORD: a strong password
BASE_URL: your server IP
TZ: your timezone

Save and exit with Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Option C: RSSHub (optional)

Only install RSSHub if you need feeds from social media or non-RSS sites.

cd ~/rss-services
mkdir rsshub && cd rsshub
nano docker-compose.yml

Copy and paste this configuration:

version: "3.8"

services:
  rsshub:
    image: diygod/rsshub:latest
    container_name: rsshub
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "1200:1200"
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: production
      CACHE_TYPE: redis
      REDIS_URL: redis://rsshub-redis:6379/
    depends_on:
      - rsshub-redis

  rsshub-redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    container_name: rsshub-redis
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - rsshub-redis-data:/data
    command: redis-server --appendonly yes

volumes:
  rsshub-redis-data:

Save and exit with Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Option D: RSS-Bridge (optional)

RSS-Bridge turns websites without RSS into feeds, same idea as RSSHub. Install it only if you need that.

cd ~/rss-services
mkdir rss-bridge && cd rss-bridge
nano docker-compose.yml

Copy and paste this configuration:

services:
  rss-bridge:
    image: rssbridge/rss-bridge:latest
    container_name: rss-bridge
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:80"
    volumes:
      - ./whitelist.txt:/app/whitelist.txt:ro
    environment:
      - RSSBRIDGE_whitelist_file=/app/whitelist.txt

Save and exit with Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Next, create the whitelist file. It decides which bridges are enabled. * enables all of them:

echo '*' > whitelist.txt
cat whitelist.txt
# *

If you want to limit the bridges, put bridge names in this file instead, one per line.

Step 6: Launch your services

Navigate to your chosen service directory and start it:

For FreshRSS:

cd ~/rss-services/freshrss
docker compose up -d

For Miniflux:

cd ~/rss-services/miniflux
docker compose up -d

For RSSHub (if installed):

cd ~/rss-services/rsshub
docker compose up -d

For RSS-Bridge (if installed):

cd ~/rss-services/rss-bridge
docker compose up -d

This will download and start your services. Wait 2-3 minutes for everything to initialize.

Check if everything is running

# For FreshRSS
cd ~/rss-services/freshrss && docker compose ps

# For Miniflux
cd ~/rss-services/miniflux && docker compose ps

# For RSSHub
cd ~/rss-services/rsshub && docker compose ps

# For RSS-Bridge
cd ~/rss-services/rss-bridge && docker compose ps

If a service shows “Up”, it’s working.

Step 7: Access and configure your services

FreshRSS setup

URL: http://your_server_ip:8080
First time: click “Installation” and create your admin account
Good for: beginners who want a simple, clean interface

Miniflux setup

URL: http://your_server_ip:8081
Login: use the username and password you set in the config file
Good for: users who want speed and powerful features

RSSHub (no setup needed)

URL: http://your_server_ip:1200
No login required, it just works
Use it to generate RSS feeds from YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Documentation: open the URL to see all available routes and examples

RSS-Bridge (no setup needed)

URL: http://your_server_ip:3000
No login required
Use it to generate feeds for sites without RSS
Open the URL to browse the available bridges

Step 8: Enable API access for SmartRSS

Now connect your RSS services to SmartRSS.

Enable FreshRSS API

Log in to FreshRSS at http://your_server_ip:8080.
Click your username (top right), then Administration.
Go to Authentication and enable API access.
Save the changes.
Generate API credentials:
- Still in Administration, open Profile
- Scroll to the API section
- Click Generate to create your API password
- Copy your API username and password. SmartRSS will need them.

Enable Miniflux API

Log in to Miniflux at http://your_server_ip:8081.
Open Settings, then Integrations.
Enable the Google Reader API and set a username and password. These are separate from your Miniflux account login.
Server URL: http://your_server_ip:8081/

Step 9: Connect SmartRSS to your server

Now connect SmartRSS to your self-hosted services.

For FreshRSS users:

Open SmartRSS on your device.
Add a new account and select FreshRSS.
Enter your server details:
- Server URL: http://your_server_ip:8080/api/
- Username: your FreshRSS username
- Password: your API password (from step 8)
Test the connection. Your feeds now sync.

For Miniflux users:

Open SmartRSS on your device.
Add a new account and select Miniflux.
Enter your server details:
- Server URL: http://your_server_ip:8081/
- Username: your Miniflux Google Reader username
- Password: your Miniflux Google Reader password
Test the connection, and you’re done.

Add feeds from RSSHub

Want to follow a YouTube channel or Twitter user that doesn’t have RSS?

Open RSSHub at http://your_server_ip:1200.
Find the route you need, for example /youtube/user/:username.
Copy the RSS feed URL.
Add it in SmartRSS, or in your FreshRSS or Miniflux web interface.

Popular RSSHub routes:

YouTube: http://your_server_ip:1200/youtube/user/:username
Twitter: http://your_server_ip:1200/twitter/user/:username
Instagram: http://your_server_ip:1200/instagram/user/:username
Telegram: http://your_server_ip:1200/telegram/channel/:channelname

Add feeds from RSS-Bridge

Open RSS-Bridge at http://your_server_ip:3000.
Pick a bridge from the list and fill in the fields it asks for.
Copy the RSS or Atom URL it generates.
Add that URL in SmartRSS, or in your FreshRSS or Miniflux web interface.

Quick management commands

Check service status

# For FreshRSS
cd ~/rss-services/freshrss && docker compose ps

# For Miniflux
cd ~/rss-services/miniflux && docker compose ps

# For RSSHub
cd ~/rss-services/rsshub && docker compose ps

# For RSS-Bridge
cd ~/rss-services/rss-bridge && docker compose ps

View logs (if something goes wrong)

# For FreshRSS
cd ~/rss-services/freshrss && docker compose logs -f

# For Miniflux
cd ~/rss-services/miniflux && docker compose logs -f

# For RSSHub
cd ~/rss-services/rsshub && docker compose logs -f

# For RSS-Bridge
cd ~/rss-services/rss-bridge && docker compose logs -f

Restart a service

# For FreshRSS
cd ~/rss-services/freshrss && docker compose restart

# For Miniflux
cd ~/rss-services/miniflux && docker compose restart

# For RSSHub
cd ~/rss-services/rsshub && docker compose restart

# For RSS-Bridge
cd ~/rss-services/rss-bridge && docker compose restart

Update your services

# For FreshRSS
cd ~/rss-services/freshrss && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

# For Miniflux
cd ~/rss-services/miniflux && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

# For RSSHub
cd ~/rss-services/rsshub && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

# For RSS-Bridge
cd ~/rss-services/rss-bridge && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

Stop services

# For FreshRSS
cd ~/rss-services/freshrss && docker compose down

# For Miniflux
cd ~/rss-services/miniflux && docker compose down

# For RSSHub
cd ~/rss-services/rsshub && docker compose down

# For RSS-Bridge
cd ~/rss-services/rss-bridge && docker compose down

Common issues and fixes

Services won’t start

# Check what's wrong (replace with your service)
cd ~/rss-services/freshrss  # or miniflux, rsshub, or rss-bridge
docker compose logs

# Restart everything
docker compose restart

Can’t access your server

Make sure your VPS provider’s firewall allows these ports (only for services you installed):

8080 (FreshRSS)
8081 (Miniflux)
1200 (RSSHub)
3000 (RSS-Bridge)

SmartRSS won’t connect

Double-check your server URL, including http:// and the port number.
Verify your API credentials. Regenerate them if needed.
Test the web interface in your browser first. If you can log in there, the server itself is fine.

Conclusion

You now have your own RSS backend that syncs with SmartRSS across all your devices. Your reading stays on your own server, and there are no monthly fees.

Build Your RSS Backend for SmartRSS: A Beginner's Guide to FreshRSS, Miniflux, RSSHub, and RSS-Bridge

Why build your own RSS backend?

What you’ll need

Quick start: try official instances first

Official FreshRSS demo

Official Miniflux demo

Step 1: Get your VPS ready

Choosing and purchasing a VPS

Deploy your server

Step 2: Connect to your server

Step 3: Install Docker

Test the installation

Step 4: Choose your RSS services

The main RSS reader (pick one)

FreshRSS: the beginner-friendly choice

Miniflux: the power user’s choice

Optional: RSSHub

Optional: RSS-Bridge

Step 5: Set up your service

Create the project directory

Option A: FreshRSS (recommended for beginners)

Option B: Miniflux (for power users)

Option C: RSSHub (optional)

Option D: RSS-Bridge (optional)

Step 6: Launch your services

For FreshRSS:

For Miniflux:

For RSSHub (if installed):

For RSS-Bridge (if installed):

Check if everything is running

Step 7: Access and configure your services

FreshRSS setup

Miniflux setup

RSSHub (no setup needed)

RSS-Bridge (no setup needed)

Step 8: Enable API access for SmartRSS

Enable FreshRSS API

Enable Miniflux API

Step 9: Connect SmartRSS to your server

For FreshRSS users:

For Miniflux users:

Add feeds from RSSHub

Add feeds from RSS-Bridge

Quick management commands

Check service status

View logs (if something goes wrong)

Restart a service

Update your services

Stop services

Common issues and fixes

Services won’t start

Can’t access your server

SmartRSS won’t connect

Conclusion

📱 Download SmartRSS Now

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