Alternatives to The Old Reader
Google Reader nostalgia, kept alive
The Old Reader ranks #9 of 11 in RSS readers, with an Alt Score of 50. It is freemium from $3/month. 6 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Former Google Reader users and anyone who wants to follow blogs and news sites via RSS/Atom feeds in one place, especially readers who miss the social, comment-and-share style of the original Google Reader.
A web-based feed reader that pulls in RSS and Atom subscriptions, organizes them into folders, and lets you mark items read/unread or star them for later. It adds a social layer on top of the feed list: you can follow other users, see what they're reading, and comment on or share articles with them. A browser bookmarklet lets you send any web page straight into your feed, and OPML import/export makes it easy to move subscriptions in from another reader or out to one. The free tier covers up to 100 feeds; a paid Premium tier raises that to 500 feeds, adds full-text search, and extends article storage to a year.
You subscribe to feeds by pasting a URL or importing an OPML file, then arrange them into folders in the sidebar. Reading happens in a shared inbox-style list where you mark items read, star favorites, and optionally comment on or share articles with people you follow.
Why people leave The Old Reader
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
How The Old Reader compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| RSS readers checklist | The Old Reader | NewsBlur | FreshRSS | Miniflux | Tiny Tiny RSS | Feedbin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Feed limit (free) | ||||||
| Full-text extraction | ||||||
| Keyboard navigation | ||||||
| Rules & filters | ||||||
| Newsletter ingestion (email address) | ||||||
| Offline reading | ||||||
| Tagging | ||||||
| API | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Podcast support |
Every fact and feature listed for The Old Reader is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-11
Users with more than 100 feeds will need to upgrade to premium.
https://blog.theoldreader.com/post/76417559063/the-old-reader-premium -
Starts at $3/month verified 2026-07-11
It's only $3/month
https://blog.theoldreader.com/post/163136340169/premium-subscriptions-are-a-great-way-to-support -
Feed limit (free) Partial verified 2026-07-11
Users with more than 100 feeds will need to upgrade to premium.
https://blog.theoldreader.com/post/76417559063/the-old-reader-premium -
Full-text extraction Yes verified 2026-07-11
A simple Ruby wrapper for the Mercury Web Parser API
https://github.com/theoldreader/mercury_web_parser -
Keyboard navigation Yes verified 2026-07-11
Extended keyboard shortcuts. Press ? to see the list of the shortcuts that are now available to you
https://blog.theoldreader.com/post/49375135562/may-1-release-is-here -
Tagging Yes verified 2026-07-11
GET https://theoldreader.com/reader/api/0/tag/list?output=json Contains folder list.
https://github.com/theoldreader/api -
API Yes verified 2026-07-11
Current API tries to mimic the unofficial Google Reader API.
https://github.com/theoldreader/api -
Self-hostable No verified 2026-07-11
GET https://theoldreader.com/reader/api/0/tag/list?output=json Contains folder list.
https://github.com/theoldreader/api
FAQ
Yes. NewsBlur, FreshRSS and Tiny Tiny RSS have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
NewsBlur, FreshRSS and Miniflux — every license claim links its source.