An RSS reader is an app that collects the newest articles, videos and podcast episodes from the websites you choose and shows them in one list. Instead of visiting each site to see what is new, you follow it once, and new posts come to you. RSS readers are also called feed readers, news readers or RSS aggregators.
How does an RSS reader work?
Most news sites, blogs, podcasts and YouTube channels publish an RSS feed: a small file that lists their latest posts. An RSS reader checks those feeds for you, around the clock.
- You add a site. Paste the website's address. Most readers find the feed for you, so you rarely need the feed link itself.
- The reader keeps an eye on it. It checks the feed regularly, from every few minutes to every hour, depending on the reader and your plan.
- New posts show up in your list. Newest first, marked as unread until you have read them. Nothing is ranked, boosted or hidden.
Why use an RSS reader?
Social media feeds decide what you see, ranked by what keeps you scrolling. An RSS reader turns that around: you pick the sources, and you see everything they publish, in the order they publish it.
- Nothing slips past you. Every new post from every source lands in one place.
- Less noise. No suggested content and no algorithm deciding what matters.
- Fewer tabs. Skim the headlines and open the full article only when it is worth it.
- No accounts everywhere. You don't need to sign up on every site you follow.
Types of RSS readers
RSS is an open standard, so there is a reader for every platform and taste.
- Web apps run in your browser, so your feeds follow you to any computer.
- Browser extensions show new posts from your toolbar and let you follow the site you are on with one click.
- Mobile apps put your feeds on your phone. Pick one that checks feeds in the cloud, so your phone doesn't spend battery and data on it.
- Desktop apps live on your computer, often with offline reading.
- E-mail updates send new posts to your inbox, which is handy for the few feeds you never want to miss.
What to look for in an RSS reader
- It works on all your devices and keeps read and unread posts in sync.
- It finds the feed when you paste a website's address.
- It updates often enough for what you follow. Hourly is fine for most blogs, while news can call for minutes.
- It can notify you, by push or e-mail, about the feeds that matter most.
- It has filters, so you can skip posts that don't interest you or highlight the ones that do.
- It can follow websites that have no RSS feed of their own.
For a closer comparison, see How to choose an RSS feed reader.
Common questions
Are RSS readers free?
Many are, and many have a free plan with paid upgrades for more feeds and faster updates.
Do I need to find the RSS feed link myself?
Usually not. Paste the website's address and the reader looks for the feed. If a site has no feed at all, some readers, Feeder included, can still follow it.
Is RSS still used?
Yes. Most news sites, blogs and YouTube channels still publish feeds, and podcasts are distributed with RSS.
Try Feeder
Feeder is an RSS reader for the web, iOS and Android, with extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. The free plan follows up to 200 feeds, updated as often as every 30 minutes, with no ads. Plus is $7.99 a month, billed yearly, for 2,500 feeds, updates as often as every 5 minutes and e-mail summaries.
Get started with Feeder for free