What is txtdot?

txtdot is a Node.js HTTP proxy that simplifies web pages on the server side using Mozilla's Readability library. It fetches a target URL, extracts the main content (text, links, images, tables), compresses images with Sharp, and serves a clean, minimal HTML page with no client-side JavaScript. It can also render JavaScript-heavy sites via the companion WebDer service and integrate with SearXNG for search. The project is designed for users on slow or metered connections who want to read articles without downloading megabytes of scripts and ads. It runs as a single container (Docker Compose) or via npm, listens on port 8080 by default, and is configured through environment variables. Development of the v1 branch is discontinued; active work continues on the v2 branch.

Should you self-host txtdot?

txtdot scores 47/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #19 of 25 in Proxy. It has 213 GitHub stars.

It shipped 5 stable releases in the past year. The latest, v1.10.6, came out on 25 October 2026. New versions land roughly every 3 days.

Setup is easy: most people get it running in one sitting. An official Docker image is available. It is MIT-licensed and written mostly in Typescript.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is frp (85/100, 110 230 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See txtdot vs frp side by side.