There is no single best feed reader, but there is usually a best one for you. It depends on three questions: do you want something that works everywhere without setup, do you mind paying, and do you want to keep your data on your own server?
We used each of the readers below for at least two weeks with the same set of about 120 feeds, a mix of news sites, blogs, YouTube channels and a few that publish only once a month.
The short list
| Reader | Type | Good for | Price model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inoreader | Web + apps | Heavy readers who want search, rules and filters | Free tier with limits, paid plans |
| Feedly | Web + apps | A clean start with almost no setup | Free tier with limits, paid plans aimed at teams |
| NewsBlur | Web + apps | People who like to train what they see | Free tier, cheap yearly plan |
| NetNewsWire | Mac and iPhone app | Apple users who want something free and fast | Free, open source |
| FreshRSS | Self-hosted | Anyone with a server who wants full control | Free, open source |
| Miniflux | Self-hosted | Minimalists | Free, open source; paid hosted version |
If you want it to just work: Feedly or Inoreader
Both are web services with apps for phones, and both find the feed when you paste the address of a site. Feedly is the calmer of the two: a tidy interface, sensible defaults, and a free plan that covers a modest list of feeds. Over the last few years its paid plans have moved towards businesses and research teams, which shows in the menus.
Inoreader is the power tool. It is busier on screen, but it has full-text search across your feeds, rules that tag or hide items automatically, and support for following newsletters and social accounts in the same place. If you read a lot, it is the one that saves the most time. We compare the two in detail in a separate article.
If you like to tune things: NewsBlur
NewsBlur has been around since 2009 and is run by one developer, which is part of its charm. Its signature feature is training: you mark authors, tags or words you like or dislike, and items are sorted into green, yellow and red. It is open source, and its paid plan costs less per year than most services charge per month.
If you are on a Mac or iPhone: NetNewsWire
NetNewsWire is free, open source and fast. It can keep feeds locally on your device or sync through iCloud or a service like Feedly, Inoreader or FreshRSS. It does not try to do anything clever, which is exactly why many people love it.
If you have a server: FreshRSS or Miniflux
Self-hosting a reader is easier than it sounds if you already run anything on a small server. FreshRSS is the full-featured option, with themes, extensions and multiple users. Miniflux is deliberately spare and very light. Both expose an API that mobile apps can use. We wrote a whole guide on choosing between them.
What we would pick
- New to feeds: start with Feedly’s free plan and see if the habit sticks.
- Reading more than a hundred feeds a day: Inoreader.
- Apple user who hates subscriptions: NetNewsWire, synced with iCloud.
- Comfortable with a server: FreshRSS, with NetNewsWire or another app on the phone.
Whatever you choose, export your subscriptions as an OPML file from time to time. It is the cheapest insurance there is.