Feedly and Inoreader are the two hosted readers most people end up choosing between. Both are web services with phone apps, both have a free plan, and both can follow far more than blogs. After a month alternating between them with the same 120 feeds, the difference comes down to temperament more than features.
First impression
Feedly is calm. A clean list of articles, large titles, a sidebar with your folders, and very few buttons. You can sign in, add a few sites and start reading in under two minutes. It feels designed so that you never need the settings page.
Inoreader is busy. More menus, more counters, more options in every corner. It takes an afternoon to tame, but once it is set up the way you like, it is faster for people who read a lot.
Where Feedly is better
- Onboarding: suggestions by topic, sensible defaults.
- A quieter reading view on the web and on phones.
- Integrations aimed at teams, if you read for work and share with colleagues.
Where Inoreader is better
- Search across all your feeds, including older articles.
- Rules: automatically tag, star, hide or send items that match words or sources.
- Following newsletters through a dedicated email address, and some social feeds, in the same place.
- Generous options for exporting and backing up.
Free plans
Both free plans limit the number of feeds and hold back some features, and both have changed their limits more than once. In our experience Inoreader’s free tier goes further for an individual, while Feedly’s paid plans have moved towards companies. Check both pricing pages before you commit; we do not quote numbers because they change.
Our verdict
- You follow a few dozen sites and want something pleasant: Feedly.
- You follow hundreds, search often or want automation: Inoreader.
- You are unsure: try both for a week. Export your OPML file from one and import it into the other; it takes a minute.
Neither appeals? See the full list of readers, including NewsBlur and the self-hosted options.
