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Best Free RSS Reader-Aggregator
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Introduction
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There are many ways to aggregate and read feeds.
The "best" feed reader is a matter of individual preference, or even personal taste. No matter which reader you choose, it should give you 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. |
It's available as an extension / add-on for all major browsers, and there are web-apps for iPhone and iPad. See more on these and other readers in 
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 best for you. :-)|
Discussion
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You can subscribe to feeds and manage them in either FeedDemon or Google Reader. You can subscribe to audio podcasts and play them directly from FeedDemon as well. FeedDemon also handles secure feeds (those that require a username and password). "FeedDemon requires Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, with Internet Explorer 7 or later installed." Also runs fine on Windows 8 with IE10. RSSOwl: Thanks to a nudge from Topsio in the comments below, I am taking another look at this reader. It's been under active development with many new features added. Version 2.1, released on July 15, 2011, added synchronization with Google Reader. RSSOwl does not sync new subscriptions, just the contents of each feed. For now, you need to sync feed subscriptions manually. FeedDemon, on the other hand, does the whole job flawlessly.
I'm going to use RSSOwl exclusively for a couple of weeks before I wrap up this review. One negative so far is the requirement for Java. I don't like to have Java installed because it seems to be prennially plauged with new security holes. BlogBridge is targeted at power users who subscribe to many feeds, 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. You can upload a list of your feeds to a free "BlogBridge Service" account to synchronize your feeds across multiple computers. 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. Integrated with Microsoft Outlook for email. RSS Bandit and Awasu are comparable to FeedDemon, but they're a bit less capable and complex. That means their learning curves are not as formidable. Even so, they are elegant full-featured readers. RSS Bandit is now an Open Source program. It was launched by Dare Obasanjo -- programmer, avid feed reader and active blogger. Awasu is widely used by business users. |
RSSOwl compares very favorably with FeedDemon. They both have powerful ways to manage feeds, and several viewing options. RSSOwl's options seem more versatile. It's not obvious how find and set up just the combination of options you want for either one though. I like to view just a list of feed posts in the reader, and open the ones that catch my eye directly in Firefox. That combination is not easy to set up, but it's possible to get just what I want in both. I like the resulting view in RSSOwl a little better, but there are many other viewing modes that I haven't evaluated.|
Related Products and Links
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Web-based readers Web-based feed readers compete on a par with desktop feed readers. For example, Google Reader offers very good feed management, and its keyboard shortcuts provide superb feed navigation. You could use Google Reader Gadget if you'd like to access your feeds directly from your desktop. Netvibes is a similar web-based reader, which offers a wide range of "widgets" for accessing web feeds and other kinds of dynamic content. Browser Add-ons / Extensions and Web-apps Add-ons / Extensions for browsers and web-apps for smartphones and tablets combine many of the advantages of desktop readers and web-based readers like Google Reader. They have a small footprint and can be "instantly" installed/uninstalled as well. Like web-based readers, an add-on reader creates an efficient browser-centric workspace, with good work flow for feed-based tasks. Opera has a built-in RSS reader integrated with Opera Mail. NewsBlur is an exciting new web-based reader that could be going places. See my reply to a fortuitious comment below for more information. Feedly is a unique feed reader for the 21st Century. Brief is a Firefox extension. It is powerful and simple at the same time. Brief is an excellent, capable replacement for Google Reader. I follow nearly 500 feeds [crazy I know], and Brief imported all of them flawlessly for my test. NewsFox is another capable add-on that puts a three pane reader (classic email layout) directly in a tab. Both of these Firefox extensions integrate directly with Live Bookmarks. There are also many other feed reader extensions for Firefox. There are not many feed-reader add-ons for IE7, and I have not evaluated any of them except Feed Plus, which adds very little. The best way that I've found to extend IE7 is to install Windows Live Mail — yes, the email program — or RSS Bandit. Both of them automatically tie in with IE7 feed subscriptions through the Windows RSS Platform. The article may leave the impression that this only works in Vista, but it works with Windows XP if you have IE7 and SP3 installed. Podcast and Vidcast "readers" Miro is ideally suited for pulling in and managing content from video feeds (vidcasts). It's a powerful open-source video aggregator that 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 programs] Juice's primary purpose is to pull in and manage audio content (podcasts). Juice supports many media players directly. According to a comment below, Juice appears to be abandon ware, but works fine. FeedDemon also has a podcast utility. BitsCast, FireANT and VLC Media Player are some more media aggregators that might be just what you're looking for. Update: Just added Media Monkey - see the comment below. External Links
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NOTE: See the comment at - http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-rss-reader-aggregator.htm#comm... - about freeze problems.
To set up the mode I prefer (a simple list of posts in the reader, and open the ones of interest in Firefox) use the following preferences. 1) View > Layout > pick "Classic" > move divider to the bottom of the list panel. 2) Tools > Preferences > Browser > pick "Use the standard external browser (Mozilla Firefox)"
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Comments
Thanks for the guidelines - I did not find that the news feeds showing in newsblur looked anything like the same feed when shown in Google Reader. In addition there were numerous ring-ins from sites where you have to pay to view. So was not at all impressed with this reader.
awasu is not "unrestricted freeware" - the free version has a limit on the number of feeds (100).
Thanks zedug. I'll change the product details.
RSSOWL is too slow and a hard disk killer. I think it's their database's problem. Despite of having a pretty good UI, the basic function is crippled by the defect.
For example it has Google sync to import many feeds all at once, but with the poor DB, their user help ask you to delete as many feed as possible in order to prevent freezing.
(What's freezing? Even opening a single feed source will ask user to wait for 30sec or more...)
Thanks Fred. I tried to install and run RSSOwl, but it failed due to some Java problem, so I an unable to evaluate it again. I'll add a note in the description linked to your comment. Maybe someone else has some input.
Excellent work ...
Ur article was very helpful .. but still did not answer my question :-
IS THERE ANY RSS FEED APPLICATION THAT LET ME EDIT THE NEWS OR PUT MY OWN NEWS????
The newspaper generator at paper.li might be just what you're looking for Spiro.
Have you tried Channelorama yet?
Channelorama is a free, customizable online RSS reader that allows you to create and manage a personalized list of RSS channels from a list of available sources. You can add your own website or blog among these sources to gain more exposure for your content. You and other users can also rate and review every channel so that the most popular content is pushed up in the channel list. Registration is NOT compulsory to use Channelorama.
Thank you for making the list! I just spent the last few days hunting for a website or extension that would come close to my favorite (see below), and was driving myself bats trying to remember which Firefox extension I'd used that used a traditional 3-pane interface...you probably saved me a weekend of frustrated hunting! :)
My favorite reader is integrated in Opera -- I see others mentioned it, but it was a few years ago, so I figured I would as well. I became a bit spoiled using it the last few months, so I started looking for a reasonably comparable alternative for when I'm in Firefox.
The features I love are:
- 3-pane email-style interface, with the feed list in the sidebar with email & newsgroups
- a little star appears over the mail/feeds icon if there are new posts
- there's no lag or CPU spike when it checks feeds for new posts (rare for non-web options)
- it can limit how old visible posts can be
- we choose the font/colors for displaying posts
(In case you're wondering why I don't just use Opera: some sites I routinely use have code that somehow disables its equivalent to Adblock Plus.)
@xyzzy
Thanks. Interesting information on the RSS reader in Opera. Might even get me to try Opera again after many years. :)I added a link in the Introduction to RSS in Opera Mail.
I have been using RSS Xpress for some time and while it's not widely heard of, it's been an awesome reader with customized notifiers, make them yourself, use others. That's not what makes it great of course, it's basic, yet has enough options to satisfy those who want to read, not trip over a myriad of clutter.
It's also fast updating, easy to get around and non intrusive. I suggest trying it out at least.
RSS Xpress will not be featured here because their website has a poor WOT rating.
Really? Bad WOT rating? I've used WOT for a long time, I see "Not enough ratings" for it. So please... do tell where this poor rating you see is.
The first result in a fresh Google search for RSS Xpress did have a poor WOT rating, but the other top search results did not, and the home site - http://rssxpress.lesrayms.fr/en/index.php - has a good WOT rating. Those results should provide some reassurance.
I have no dog in this fight, but it's interesting to note that RSS Express currently has 101 users, which hardly qualifies it for anyone but a compulsive early adopter (which I admit to from time to time). ;-)
Software Informer does not state everyone who uses this. I'm not on there, neither is my son or anyone else I know that uses it. RSS Xpress is on nearly every major download site and according to the downloads, there must be way more that use it than 101.
Again, it does NOT have a bad WOT rating.
We are not qualified to qualify anything for one, especially based off one site.
It's ok to defend software people like but not to dismiss to the public incorrect information about others simply because.
Anyway, It's simple but has many options and I think it's definitely worth a mention.
The home page is - http://rssxpress.lesrayms.fr/en/index.php - and it has a good WOT rating. That should provide some reassurance.
I think this web-based reader deserves a mention: http://www.newsblur.com
Very interesting web-based reader billybliss. I like Samuel (the developer) Clay's idiosyncratic approach with his new feed reader. [Created in New York City (mostly on the A train)] One interesting aspect of NewsBlur is the option to display the original webpage right in the reader. Another is that there are several ways to automatically fix dead RSS addresses.
His layout also has some fresh ideas. For example, many of the things you might look for, like options and related resources, are at the bottom of the window. (It took me a little while to find the main controls, which are at the bottom of the left sidebar.
It was also interesting to find that Clay is with Tasty Labs - http://www.tastylabs.com/ -. Tasty Labs was launched by the founder of Delicious, Joshua Schachter, ex-googler Paul Rademacher, and former Mozilla Director of Add-Ons, Nick Nguyen. Tasty Labs goal is to put “the useful back into social software.”
I'm going to have fun playing with this one.
If you need to update / download RSS AUDIO & Podcasts, then Media Monkey is worth considering. Media Monkey has a freeware version I've been using for over a year. It is my Music Library Organizer , CD burner, and RSS program. The program is designed to handle 50 thousand or more Audio Files without Gagging. I listen to Fantasy Football Podcasts from several sources. Every time I open Media Monkey, It AUTOMATICALLY adds any music files I've added to my Music File Folder AND AUTOMATICALLY downloads any new content from RSS feeds I have subscribed to. It will download RSS VIDEO feeds (MP-4), but you have to view them with a Video Player. I also use Media Monkey to add music and Podcasts to My i-Pod. I like the fact that I can add Content to my I-Pod WITHOUT WORRYING THAT ANY CONTENT ALREADY IN MY i-Pod WILL BE DELETED like I-Tunes will do to you if you don't have EVERY I-Tunes setting exactly correct.
Thanks Raymond. I'm going to test it out. I use Feedreader to do a weekly download of netcasts from about 60 sources and it sort of does a good job of just grabbing the new stuff. Been using it a couple years and have looked at several others, plus used a couple that later failed for some reason. Perhaps Media Monkey will be easier to use. Feedreader requires configuring the limits for each source, which is a hassle if you have to reinstall the software and enter a lot of sources. And there isn't a good backup system or way to extract noun names, etc. So I hope Media Monkey will do some of these things more easily.
Jim
Thanks Raymond. Great find.
Wow! I never seen this much excitement here before (or in any of my other review categories). I figured this was just a backwater on the Internet. Thanks for all the participation. Now I need to go to work, and spruce things up here. ;-)
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Feedly, web-based, fully integrated with Google Reader, natural reading style with social media integration.
Great web-based feed reader!
Thanks for your comment David. Web-based readers are somewhat beyond the scope of this category, which is focused on installed software, but I'll take another look at Feedly.
Update: Feedly is the best "in-browser" reader I've seen. I'm very likely to end up with it as my main reader. Integration with Google Reader is what makes it great.
Thanks for the article but i need more help :) Can anyone help me to find i bicycle instead of a bus? ;) I only use rrs reader to listen to mp3 (pods that are attached to the rss) on Swedish public radio. Before i used Doppler and Podbreeze. Doppler was the perfect rrs-reader for this matter but both of them are dead now or does not work with win 7. This is what i want for my rss reader:
- Desktop app, clean UI
- 3 windows ( all feeds, all episode, episode info)
- Easy to add and manage episodes on a new rss with attached mp3.
- See information on the mp3 automatically.
- Automatic download of all new episodes (mp3 attachments)
- good download speed with multiple downloads and stable database on downloaded mp3.
The nearest I've got is gpodder, http://gpodder.org/ but it has some issues with download speed and is not stable.
Thanks in advance :)
Hello Jan, I just stumbled across two media players that might be what you're looking for - BitsCast, and FireANT - http://bitscast.en.softonic.com/ and http://fireant.en.softonic.com/ VLC Media Player. Others in the "Best Free Media Player" category at this site may also be suitable.
Update: Just added MediaMonkey - http://download.cnet.com/MediaMonkey-Standard/3000-2141_4-10109807.html
I don't know your definition of "unrestricted freeware" but the free feeddemon is called "LITE" for a reason and has restrictions such no filtering.
Thanks dbareis, I'll add a note about restrictions to the FeedDemon review. "Unrestricted Freeware" means that commercial use is allowed, as opposed to just "personal" or "personal and non-profit" use.
correction: FeedDemon requires IE7 - not the latest IE. It will technically run on systems with IE6, but the newspaper will be formatted badly and the transitions will not work.
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