RSS Readers: Narrowing Down Your Choices

5 Best Free RSS Reader Apps in 2024

Published on: October 7, 2022
Last Updated: October 7, 2022

5 Best Free RSS Reader Apps in 2024

Published on: October 7, 2022
Last Updated: October 7, 2022

In a hurry?
The best free RSS reader app in 2024, as found in our independent testing, is Feedly!


When you want to find a specific channel, publication, or writer, so that you can see every piece of content that they upload, then you need to make the most of an RSS reader app.

This is an app that can access web feed that is published by a website, which means that you can aggregate content that means a lot to you.

Instead of having to visit more than one website, all you have to do is open your chosen RSS app, and all the content will be there for you to view.

Let’s take a look at what we think are the best RSS readers in the industry right now to help your cause.

What Makes a Great RSS Reader App?

For more than 10 years, Google Reader was the gold standard when it came to RSS apps, until 2013, when Google suddenly stopped supporting the tool.

There are a lot of people out there that are still angry about this. However, it’s not all doom and gloom.

The good news is that there are plenty of high-quality RSS reader apps that can help you access content that has been published on your favorite websites, so that you can save time when you read it.

So, what makes a good RSS reader app?

  • Free: There are a lot of apps out there that are completely free for you to use, or they at least offer a free plan so that you can make the most of them without having to go outside of your budget.
  • Web apps: There are also a lot of reader apps that let you read content on the internet by using any device to access the URL. This is instead of traditional apps that are going to sync feeds directly to your devices. When talking about the apps that we are going to discuss below, they are all we apps.
  • Conventional: A conventional RSS reader app can help you with two things – it can help you see content in reverse chronological order, so that you can curate the content that you are wanting to read.
  • Full text: When coming up with an RSS feed, a publish is going to either show a little snippet of the text, or the whole thing, but it’s not always easy for RSS readers to display the whole article. However, if the website has chosen to share the entire article, then you should be able to see this through your RSS reader app.
  • Usability: Naturally, one of the biggest points of using an RSS reader app is to make the process really simple when it comes to being able to read content from more than one site at the same time. The easier it is to do this, the better the RSS reader app.

The Best RSS Reader Apps 2024

Here’s a quick look at the best free RSS Reader apps in 2024:

  1. Feedly – 🏆 Winner!
  2. NewsBlur
  3. Inoreader
  4. The Old Reader
  5. Feeder

1. Feedly

Feedly

Feedly is available through the web, Android, and iOS, and it is definitely the industry standard when it comes to RSS readers that are web-based.

The great thing about it is that it has been for a while, so it’s managed to garner a good reputation for itself.

It’s also got a super simple interface, which is going to be helpful for those who are casual readers that are just trying to see all of their favorite sites in one place.

They offer their clients a free plan, which is going to give you access to most of the features that you will need.

You can sort your websites into topical categories, and you can also follow up to 100 sites at the same time.

You can read full-text articles, and you can scale it as well, which means that they can help you with so much more than just reading your favorite content.

If you upgrade to their pro plan, you can get keyword alerts for Google, and you can also highlight important parts to the text and even add notes to it.

This is great for professionals. They have a business plan that lets you share content with others, as well as your highlights.

This way, you can collaborate with team members. Their basic plan is going to obviously not cost you anything, and then their pro plan is going to cost you $6 a month.

2. NewsBlur

NewsBlur

NewBlur is an RSS reader that can help you on iOS, the web, and Android. They say that they can help you subscriber to more than 64 feeds, and they can help you read complete articles within the app.

You can also save content for the future, and you won’t need to select that much when you are trying to read – you can simply keep scrolling.

One of the things that stands out to us about this RSS reader is that they has filtering, so that you can hide stories or highlight stories based on your personal preferences.

If you train your filters, after a while the system is going to get to know you and what you prefer, and they are going to show you stories that you are most interest in.

This way, you can only see the content that you want to read, and you don’t even have to think about the rest.

You can share your favorite stories with others, and after their free version it is going to cost you $36 a year.

3. Inoreader

Inoreader

The next RSS reader on our list is for Android, web and iOS, and they can help you with some pretty impressive features.

In fact, this is one of those apps that has some of the best features in the industry, and they have a long list for you to choose from so you will never run out of tools to help you.

They say that their free version lets you follow 150 feeds, and you can search within your own subscriptions.

While most RSS readers are going to cache content temporarily, there are no time limits with this one.

This means that they will store your content permanently, and you can organize your feeds into different folders based on categories.

It’s a great tool not only for people who are experienced in the industry, but for those that are just starting out as well and need a little bit of help in the beginning.

This is because they have a helpful tutorial that you can make the most of when you first sign up for their features, so you can get up and running with ease.

If you want to upgrade to one of their premium plans, you are of course going to get even more features.

Their free version can help you with up to 150 feeds, and their paid version is going to cost you $1.67 a month.

4. The Old Reader

The Old Reader

The Old Reader is an RSS reader for the web, and if you are someone who loves reading the same content as your friends, then you are going to find it easy to share the content that you love with them through these guys.

All you have to do is connect your Google or Facebook account, and follow friends who might already be using the app, and you can turn it into a social network.

The app is also going to show you content based on what your friends are recommending.

This is a great way to find new sites, blogs and channels to follow, and you can check out what’s trending in the trending tab if you don’t have anyone to share your content with yet.

Their free plan offers a lot of options, and includes everything that you will need an RSS reader app to do.

You can subscribe to as many as 100 feeds, and then from here their pricing begins at $3 a month, which we think is more than reasonable.

5. Feeder

Feeder

Feeder is a great RSS reader app that can help you with Chrome, the web, Firefox, Android or iOS.

It isn’t that different to the other apps that we have talked about today on this list, but it does have a more modern look, which some are going to prefer.

Like traditional RSS readers, it is going to make it easy for you to subscriber to sites and view their articles in reverse chronological order.

They offer support for setting up, and they also have a few collaboration features that you can make the most of if you hope to turn your feed into a community.

One of the things that stands out to us about this RSS reader is that they have a browser extension so that you can quickly browse headlines.

Their free version is going to include all their basic features, and then you are going to be paying $2.50 a month. This of course includes quicker updates, 30 feeds, as well as no ads.

Final Thoughts

While you might not be too familiar with the concept of an RSS reader, it is actually one of the more established technologies out there on the internet, and has been around for long enough that most people will integrate it somehow into their website or brand.

Just like every other industry out there, it has had its fair share of updates, but this doesn’t mean that it’s not still just as helpful for letting you read all your favorite articles in one place.

Check out the RSS readers that we talk about above, and remember to make the most of their free packages!

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Written by Jason Wise

Hello! I’m the editor at EarthWeb, with a particular interest in business and technology topics, including social media, privacy, and cryptocurrency. As an experienced editor and researcher, I have a passion for exploring the latest trends and innovations in these fields and sharing my insights with our readers. I also enjoy testing and reviewing products, and you’ll often find my reviews and recommendations on EarthWeb. With a focus on providing informative and engaging content, I am committed to ensuring that EarthWeb remains a leading source of news and analysis in the tech industry.