Best Free RSS Reader-Aggregator
RSS readers/aggregators (feed readers) are used to access, read, and manage the periodically updated RSS or Atom "feeds" generated by websites and bloggers. These feeds provide access to the latest content from their parent site.
There are several ways to pull in feeds and read them.
- Desktop readers ("clients"/stand-alone programs) [Wikipedia]
- Web-based readers, many of which, like Google Reader, take the form of "Rich Internet Applications".
- All major browsers and many email clients now have built-in feed reading. There are also add-ons which enhance their native capability.
- Mobile readers for smart phones (not considered here).
The "best" feed reader is a matter of individual preference, if not taste. ;-) There are many good ones. Most of them, including the best, are free like browsers. The one that matches the way you want to work is the best one for you. :-)
Some people like specialized readers for some kinds of feeds, like podcasts and video. For example, Miro is a powerful open-source video aggregator, which opens up a large variety of video "channels". The organization behind Miro is working for a more open and diverse world of online video. [more video]
Desktop readers
Many users prefer "desktop" programs, which couple an integral browser (usually the IE engine) with feed management. The result is a complete, reader-centric workspace, which can be quite powerful.
FeedDemon is my first choice stand-alone program. I used it extensively before switching to browser-centric Google Reader. It handles feeds with attachments, like podcasts, very well too. FeedDemon is a commercial product, but it's now free for use at home.
FeedDemon is a power-user's dream. It integrates seamlessly with the web-based NewsGator, so you have the best of the desktop and web-based worlds. You can also synchronize FeedDemon with Bloglines. I used it extensively until Google Reader became advanced enough to meet my browser-centric needs. [See the paragraph below for key features.]
Omea Reader combines Web browsing, feed reading and newsgroups in one capable application. Omea Pro (also free) adds email, ICQ and Miranda (multi-protocol IM) to create an integrated information workspace.
RSS Bandit is comparable to FeedDemon, but it's a bit less capable and complex. That means its learning curve is not as formidable. Even so, it's an elegant full-featured reader. RSS Bandit is now an Open Source program. It was launched by Dare Obasanjo who is a programmer, avid feed reader and active blogger. [See the paragraph above for key features.]
BlogBridge is another stand-alone product that is targeted at power users, but don't let that scare you off. It's designed to make it easy to discover feeds you'll be interested in. BlogBridge gives you access to "Guides", which are written by experts in many different feed categories. Being Java based, it will work with any computer that supports Java.
If simplicity is an important criterion for you, check out RSSOwl. It's a simple, straightforward reader that may nicely meet your needs.
Web-based readers
Web-based feed readers compete on a par with desktop feed readers. Indeed, my first choice is Google Reader, which is a web-based application. Web-based also means browser-centric which is one of their main advantages.
For example, I prefer Google Reader because it sits right in my browser (Firefox). That puts the power of the browser just one click away. I can open feed links in new tabs, open full feed articles, bookmark items of interest, search or browse for related information, etc., all without leaving the browser. With Google Reader running in a Firefox tab, my feed-driven work a delight.
Google Reader offers very good feed management and keyboard shortcuts provide superb feed navigation. It integrates seamlessly with tabbed browsing in Firefox. By adding a few Firefox extensions, I can process web feeds very efficiently using Google Reader. The Windows Live Writer extension makes it quick and easy to create a blog post related to a particular feed; and the Tab Mix Plus extension lets me set Firefox so the focus doesn't shift to new tabs when I open links from feeds.
Add-on/plug-in readers
These add-ons/plug-ins for browsers combine many of the advantages of desktop readers and web-based readers. They have a very small footprint as well. Like web-based readers, an add-on reader creates an efficient browser-centric workspace, with good flow for feed-based tasks. There are many, maybe too many, feed-reader add-ons (extensions) for Firefox.
Brief is a simple feed reader add-on for Firefox that would be a good way to get started with feed reading. Brief is a simple reader, suitable for a modest number of feeds. Feed Sidebar is a more capable feed reader that gives you access to individual feed items as well as entire feeds. It's a very intuitive reader that is suitable for a large collection of feeds. Both of these Firefox add-ons integrate Live Bookmarks directly. There are many feed reader add-ons for IE 7, but I have not evaluated any of them.
Note
No matter which reader you choose, make sure it has some way to back up your feeds, preferably as an OPML file. You may also be able to use your OPML file to move to another reader, although the formats may not be compatible. For example, I was unable to import my feeds from Google Reader to RSS Bandit. Probably because neither of their exported files "validate" against the OPML spec.
Google Reader Web Service
Website: http://www.google.com/reader
FeedDemon
Website: http://www.feeddemon.com/
Download link: http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/FeedDemon/Default.aspx
Author: Nick Bradbury
Current version: 2.7
Version date: 16 May 2008
Download File size: 3.9MB
License: Free for personal use
Operating systems supported: Windows 98-Vista
Additional Software Required: IE6+
64 Bit version available: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: [list]
RSS Bandit
Website: http://www.rssbandit.org/
Download page: http://www.rssbandit.org/ow.asp?DownLoad
Author: Open Source project started by Dare Obasanjo
Current version: 1.6.0.2
Version date: 2/9/2008
License: Open Source
Download File size: 7.7 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server
64-bit version available: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: None
Additional software required: Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Omea Reader
(Omea Pro -- also free -- is available here too.)
Website: http://www.jetbrains.com/omea/
Download page: http://www.jetbrains.com/omea/reader/index.html
Author: JetBrains
Current version: 2.2
Version date: n/a
License: Freeware
Download File size: MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 2000/XP/2003
64 version available: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: n/a
Other relevant information: Requires Microsoft .NET 1.1
BlogBridge
Website: http://www.blogbridge.com/
Download link: http://www.blogbridge.com/downloads/blogbridge/
Author: This is an Open Source project written by a global team.
Current version: 6.0.2
Version date: December 13, 2007
Download File size: 5.12 MB
License: Open-source (freeware}
Operating systems supported: Windows, Mac and Linux
Additional Software Required: Java
64 Bit version available: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: Russian
RSSOwl
Website: http://www.rssowl.org/
Download link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/rssowl/
Author: Benjamin Pasero
Current version: 1.2.4
Version date: November 26, 2007
Download File size: 5.04 MB
License: Freeware (Eclipse Public License)
Operating systems supported: Windows, Mac and Linux
Additional Software Required: Java
64 Bit version available: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: Dansk, Deutsch, Espanol, Francais, Italiano, Nederlands, Norweigian, Portugues (do Brazil), Suomi and Svenska
Miro
Website: http://www.getmiro.com/
Download page: http://www.getmiro.com/
Author: Participatory Culture Foundation
Current version: 1.2.4
Version date: 5/28/2008
License: open source
Download File size: 24.5 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows Vista/XP/000; Mac OS X; Linux
64-bit version available: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: Many
Additional software required: No
Other relevant information: Includes a powerful download manager.
Brief add-on for Firefox
Website: http://brief.mozdev.org/
Download page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4578#reviews
Author: Project on mozdev.org
Current version: 1.2
Version date: 6/16/2008
License: Open-source (freeware
Download File size: 173 KB
Operating Systems Supported: Any operating system that runs Firefox
Portable version available: Yes, use with Portable Firefox
Non-English languages supported: de-DE, el-GR, es-AR, fi-FI fr-FR, hu-HU, ja-JP, nb-NO, nl-NL, pl-PL, sk-SK, zh-CN, zh-TW
Additional software required: Firefox
This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Philip Spohn.
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Check out Juice, which is multi-platform, open-source standalone RSS aggregator:
http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/
So what is Juice?
This podcast aggregator (reader) has a bright cheery web site. :-) Juice interesting. I'm going to need to take a look at how to fit programs like this into the format here.
Cheers
Feed Sidebar has been updated with new features and bug fixes.
http://www.chrisfinke.com/2008/08/03/feed-sidebar-update/
Cheers ~ Philip Spohn
New Features
* Added an option to always have new items open in tabs
* Added a button to the search bar to quickly show all items, both read and unread
* Removed "Mark All as Read" and "Mark All as Unread" from feed and item context menus
Bug Fixes
* Sidebar now shows the name you gave the feed, not the feed's default title.
* Marking a feed (or all items) as read is now much faster. In my tests, it only took about 5% of the time it used to.
* Clicking on a feed name in the preview pane now opens the homepage, not a useless blank page.
That's nothing!
Opera has excellent built-in RSS Reader
Opera is excellent in many ways, 9.5 is better than ever - from a Firefox user. I would use it if it had an integrated calendar and if I had widgets that replace my favorite extensions.
Please say what extensions?
I prefer NewsFox
After a quick trial, NewsFox appears to me to be a capable 3-pane feed reader that is well integrated with Firefox. I could be happy using it for a modest number of feeds.
One obvious limitation is the lack of a true 2-pane mode. Yes, you can maximize the reading pane, but you must go back to 3-pane to read the next item. Update: From a comment below, if you want to move to the next item while in 2 pane mode, use the built in shortcut keys. You can open items in a new tab from the item list though, which is nice.
There's also a trap for the neophyte user: There is no obvious way to close Newsfox in the default configuration of Firefox. There are solutions, e.g. just navigate to a website, change the Tab options to "Always show the tab bar", etc.
I suggested Newsfox because I'm using it for a while and I have never experienced any issue. You don't have to read a manual to use it, I find it very user friendly.
Personaly I prefer 3 pane because I don't want feeds to be mixed with bookmarks. That's why I said I prefer it to Brief. Besides, with a wide screen format this is realy no problem.
At this moment I have +1900 feeds organized in 12 categories and no problem. What do you consider a "modest number"?
I don't think a lot of users navigate with just 1 tab: Newsfox always open's and closes as any tab, that's not a big deal... IMHO.
BTW, I think Newsfox, Wizz RSS (Lite), Brief, Feed Sidebar are very much the same in terms of features. That's a matter of personal taste. If you want a more complete RSS manager that integrates FF, I would suggest infoRSS, which integrates the context menu and displays updated feeds in the status menu (mine is so crowded nowadays). But you do have a bigger learning curve, some users reported it doesn't keep the settings...
http://inforss.mozdev.org/index.html
infoRSS 1.1.3 features:
* RSS feed including RSS Gmail notifier (with https://mail.google.com/mail/feed/atom)
* ATOM feed
* NNTP feed
* HTML feed (in fact any text document on internet: RDF, txt, HTML...). Extraction with regular expression
* Support for SSL feed (HTTPS)
* Customized refresh time per feed
* Automatic or manual refresh
* Customized number of headlines to display per feed
* Customized number of character to display per feed (status bar is a limited area...)
* Customized favicon per feed or group
* Customized filter per feed : filter on title, subject, headline number, published date, received date, ...
* Enable/Disable filter
* Group of feeds
* Customized filter per group : filter for the group or combination with feed's filter and group
* Full associated HTML article in a simple clic on the headline
* Customized style sheet for headlines : font family, font size, background color, foreground color
* Display headlines in the status bar or in a separate bar (top or bottom)
* Manual resize of the status bar area
* Automatic size adjustment with the window width
* Skip headline
* Automatic scrolling feeds in the headline area
* Manual scrolling feeds in the headline area with scroll mouse
* Manual scrolling by pixel or by headline
* Right to left or left to right scrolling direction
* Customized scrolling speed
* Fade in/out headlines
* All headlines in the main menu as a submenu
* Automatic cycling between feed or group or within feed of a group
* Skip empty feed in cycling mode
* Popup when new headlines are published
* Customized icon bar beside the headline bar
* Mark all headlines as read
* View all headlines at once
* Flashing icon when refreshing
* Read article in tooltip, a new tab or a new window
* Tooltip on headline to see the full title, begin of article, all info or full article without opening a new tab
* Tooltip in HTML mode for rich description
* Tooltip that supports multimedia in ENCLOSURE tag : images are displayed beside the description, and audio and video files are played (podcasting, try feed http://inforss.mozdev.org/inforss.xml) with the firefox embedded multimedia plugin
* Size and type of the enclosure in the tooltip on the enclosure icon
* Tooltip on main icon to display the number of hedline / unread headline
* Option to play/mute podcast
* Display icon near headline in case of enclosure tag
* Persistence of viewed and banned headline even after the session
* Remote synchronization with FTP or WebDav server
* OPML import and export from a local file or a distant ressource (on internet)
* Export the repository in the bookmark hierarchy
* Display the repository on screen
* Display the RSS file in the browser by dragging the feed in the menu on the browser
* Detect RSS feed in the current page and add an item in the menu
* Contextual menu in Firefox to add a feed in the extension repository
* Add any URL in the clipboard to the menu to simply add it to the repository
* Detete a feed in the menu with drag and drop on the trash bin
* Add a feed in a group with drag and drop on the group icon in the menu
* Link to the main web page in one click
* Customized FF add feed menu (orange radar icon) to add feed in infoRSS
* Global activity switch
* Activity switch at the feed/group level
* Collapse headline bar if no headline
* Thumbnail image of the main URL in the option dialog
* Quick filter icon to filter in one click all displayed headlines
* Auto or manual decoding in the HTML feed
P.S. In Newsfox, if you want to move to the next item in 2 pane mode, use the built in shortcut keys (I forgot this one in the previous post).
Cheers
Quick test on Feed Sidebar:
- no import/export (basic)
- cannot save feed search
- preview pane is too small and the info cropped
- cannot add tags (basic)
- cannot create custom groups (basic)
- no shortcuts
Quick test on infoRSS:
- slow interface
- uses too much bandwidt
- freezes at times
- outline needs to be much improved (the worst outline I found)
- the GUI is confusing
I think Feed Sidebar doesn't have the basic features I expect to find in a RSS reader, and I didn't like infoRSS. I'm keeping Newsfox, still the better FF extension IMHO.
RSS syndication is becoming increasingly popular as it brings the web to you rather than you having to go to the web for updated pages.
In addition to the stand-alone and web-based RSS readers that you have discussed, I suggest that you should also include a section for add-on RSS readers (as you've only mentioned about them and not included any reviews). In this category, I strongly recommend Brief (Firefox extension) to users of Firefox. It's extremely usable and customisably with all the basic features and requires little or no knowledge of RSS for getting started. It's the best overall RSS solution. I strongly recommend it.
Web: http://brief.mozdev.org/
Hope this helps.
Regards.
Thanks,
As you see, I've added Brief, and reorganized things a bit. In the process, I realized that a more comprehensive browser add-on might rival the browser-centric advantages that Google Reader gives me. Something for me to try. :-)
Cheers ~ Philip Spohn
That's brilliant philip, thanks for adding the new group.
When I started my search for a feed-reader, there's one thing I didn't realise. I must have asked myself the question When do I read my feeds? While I'm browsing the net? While I'm reading my e-mail? When I sit down for a dedicated feed-reading session? Or from several computers?
Depending on the answer, one might need a browser-centric feed-reader, an email-integrated feed reader, a stand-alone reader, or a web-based reader.
Also, I wonder why most Firefox users prefer Sage over Brief?
Another quick-tip: If you use Brief, try using FoxMarks and you'll have your feeds backed up automatically with the rest of your life's worth of collected bookmarks.
Regards.
I've been using GreatNews for a week or two, mostly because it cheerfully runs portably. Might be worth a look.
http://www.curiostudio.com/index.html
Tim
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look.
Cheers ~ Philip Spohn
A couple of readers I have bookmarked that looked good to me are as follows:
SharpReader http://www.sharpreader.net/
FeedReader http://www.feedreader.com/
Outlook users might like RSS Popper http://rsspopper.blogspot.com/2004/10/home.html
Thanks for the suggestions Leland.
Cheers ~ Philip Spohn
Google reader is definitely the ONE,you don't have to store the rss on your own storage,and what's more ,you can read rss anywhere ,without installing any readers ,and the most important is,it saves you reading history,you know what you have read and not when you open the feeds on other computers.
I don't use a standalone feed reader. Opera's built-in reader is pretty good.
Omea Pro and Omea Reader
I recently submitted a small article to be added here on Omea Reader and Omea Pro but it has not shown up yet.
However, it is by far the best News and RSS Feed software available. It has quite recently, after a year of seemingly endless discussions. It is the best that could happen to this very nice product.
I expect many new add-ons to come plus a new version (3.0) that is about to come later this year.
More info:
Omea Pro http://www.jetbrains.com/omea/
Omea Reader http://www.jetbrains.com/omea/reader/index.html
Download links:
Omea Pro http://www.jetbrains.com/omea/download/download.html
Omea Reader http://www.jetbrains.com/omea/download/reader.html
Regards
Gorm Chandler
Thanks for the suggestion Gorm. I'll take a look at Omea.
There is an abundance of choices in this category. It seems that every reader has its specific pluses and minuses. I've checked out many of them, and none is perfect. If you have a slooooow connection and limited bandwidth like I do, RSS Bandit is the best I've found. RSS Owl and FeedDemon would be a close second.
Abilon is another good choice, it's abandonware though, so I don't know if that qualifies.
http://email.about.com/cs/rssfeedreaders/gr/abilon.htm
Don't let the article fool you, you can easily find it for download.
-Wally G
Nice find Wally! Finally an application that just checks for new content and alerts me when it finds some. It lets me open the content in my favourite browser and doesn't depend on a parade of bloated code to be pre-installed. Booyeah!
Well, I think the answer is, "It depends." However, there are so many free programs available in this category that I think the best policy here is "No." :-)
Cheers ~ Philip Spohn
Try checking out Bottomfeeder at http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/BottomFeeder/ for another great free feed reader. I have run the windows installer on Vista-pro_x86 version and it works as well as it does on XP 32-bit.
Thanks for the suggestion. We're entering a more active editing phase, so I just got around to looking at comments on my categories. I've heard of BottomFeeder, but don't remember anything about it, so I'll go have a look.
Woops, forgot to log in before commenting. Guess I've gotten rusty. :-)
Cheers ~ Philip Spohn
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