7 Best Feedly Alternative Tools
Virlo Team
Jan 19, 2025
Tracking how to find social media trends is crucial for marketers and creators alike. Consider you just developed the perfect piece of content, but it’s a week late for the trending topic it was intended for. If only you had stayed up to date on the social media trends.
This scenario is all too common. Luckily, with the right social media trend tracker, you can identify viral trends and create content that aligns with them for a better chance at going viral yourself. In this guide, we'll introduce you to Feedly alternatives and explain their value for tracking social media trends.
One of the best Feedly alternatives for tracking social media trends is Virlo's virality analysis tool. This nifty tool helps you identify and track viral trends on social media so you can create timely content that improves your chances of going viral.
Table of Content
What is Feedly?
Feedly is a tool that helps you gather all your reliable sources in one location. This way, you and your team can stop wasting time searching social media for insights or inspiration. Feedly uses AI to help you pull this off. First, you train the assistant to identify the content you want to see. Then, you dismiss the irrelevant stuff from untrustworthy sources or otherwise undeserving of a spot in your feed.
Who Is Feedly For?
There are many use cases for a tool like Feedly, and depending on how you hope to use it, there are various features you may be searching for. For instance, if you want to curate a news feed for everyone on your team, consider how easy it is to share your feed. Can you send out a link, similar to an RSS feed, that anyone can access, or will people need to log in to Feedly? Can you set permissions on who can view your curated feed?
How Much Will You Use It?
Another consideration before investing in a tool like Feedly is whether or not you'll use it enough to justify it. Many niches already have a curated app or feed where a team of people or tools have found the most relevant content for the day or week, so would you be better served signing up for one of those?
Do You Have a Team That Can Benefit From It?
One of the most powerful features of Feedly is sharing insights with your team, but you have to consider if your team will look at your feed. You must also consider whether the feed will replace their other research or simply supplement it.
Related Reading
• How to Keep Up with TikTok Trends
• How to Find Trending Topics on YouTube
• How to Find Trending Topics on Instagram
• How to Find Trending Topics on TikTok
• How to Use Google Trends for YouTube
Feedly Pricing
Feedly’s Basic plan is free and lets you follow up to 100 sources using the web, Android, and iOS apps. The Pro plan costs $8 monthly and includes up to 1,000 sources, search, and third-party integrations (including Zapier).
7 Best Feedly Alternative Tools
1. Virlo: Unlocking the Secrets to Going Viral
Virlo helps short-form content creators crack the code of virality through AI-powered trend analysis. Our platform combines creator insights with advanced analytics to identify winning content patterns, optimal posting times, and successful audio/video combinations that help your content stand out in today's fast-moving social landscape.
Perfect for independent creators looking to build a sustainable side business, Virlo takes the guesswork out of content strategy. We analyze the latest viral trends and help you understand when to post and what combinations of elements drive engagement. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your existing content, Virlo enables you to navigate the ever-changing algorithms to increase your chances of going viral. Go viral with Virlo's virality analysis tool.
2. NewsBlur: A Reader with Impressive Filtering Capabilities
NewsBlur is a free, open-source RSS reader that you can run on your server. It features automatic story filtering based on personal preferences and has a simple interface that lets you read multiple articles from different sources without clicking around too much. The biggest downside is its dated design, which may turn off some users.
NewsBlur Pros
Open source so that you can run it yourself on your server
Automatic filtering is surprisingly effective
NewsBlur Cons
Dated design
Unless you're on a Premium plan, you must scroll through each site individually.
With a free NewsBlur account, you can subscribe to up to 64 different feeds, read full-text content of those sites in its web reader, and save stories to read or access in the future. And you don’t even need to click that much while reading in NewsBlur. Just keep scrolling: articles display one after another for action-free reading. (Though it's worth noting you have to scroll through each site individually. The "River of News" is limited to Premium subscribers.)
However, NewsBlur's most interesting feature is its sophisticated AI filtering, which can automatically highlight or hide stories based on specific criteria. If you train your filters, the system will learn your preferences (like what authors you prefer at a given site) and try to surface the stories that interest you most. That way, you can subscribe to as many sites as you want—even the ones that publish 100 articles a day—and still only see the content you're interested in.
NewsBlur also lets you share your favorite stories on social networks or inside of NewsBlur. Within the app, you can add stories you read and like to your personal "blurblog" or find people with similar interests and follow their blurblogs. You can also run NewsBlur on your server for free.
NewsBlur has the most traditional look of any RSS reader on this list. By that, I mean it looks like it was designed sometime in the late-2000s—despite being updated in 2022. It’s not bad, per se, but it doesn’t look the modern way the other apps on this list do. If that’s a dealbreaker, try Feedly or Inoreader. Feature-wise, though, NewsBlur doesn’t fall short.
3. Inoreader: The Best for Power Users
Inoreader is one of the most feature-packed free RSS readers on this list. You can follow 150 feeds without paying a cent and even search within your subscriptions. (Full disclosure: this is the app I use personally, and I do pay for the Pro plan.)
While most RSS apps only cache content for the short term, Inoreader doesn’t have limited-time archives. Your content—even the stuff you’ve already read—is stored permanently. To stay organized, you can group your feeds in folders and use tags to separate individual articles as you read them.
This makes Inoreader a great RSS feed app for power users, but it’s very accessible for beginners as well. After signing up, you’re guided through a tutorial that shows you how to use the app’s major features, making it easy to get up and running even if you have no previous RSS experience.
Upgrading to Inoreader’s premium plan gives you even more features. Add feeds for newsletters you subscribe to, YouTube, or Facebook Pages; write advanced rules for sorting your content into folders and tags (this is the feature that makes me pay for Pro); track changes on websites; and even automatically monitor for content about people, companies, trends, events, and more.
For anyone who has to stay on top of a few different areas, it’s convenient. I can filter specific tech feeds only to see posts relevant to my beats or search for an article I read earlier that month. And I don’t need to wade through Android content to get to the AI and cybersecurity stuff I mostly write about.
Inoreader Pros
Feature-packed with filters and advanced rules, it’s best for power users.
You can store your archives permanently
Inoreader Cons
On the free plan, it inserts ads into your subscribed RSS feeds
4. FreshRSS: A Lightweight Self-Hosted RSS Reader
FreshRSS is a free, self-hosted RSS aggregator. It is lightweight, fast (it can manage +100k articles without complaining), and powerful (e.g., shortcuts, filters, responsive design, multi-views, multi-themes, multi-users, statistics, a Google Reader API, etc.)
Pros
Nice clean interface
Not depending on 3rd parties.
Cons
Not much documentation. The code is well commented on but IN FRENCH. It's more problematic for me to hack about with.
5. Tiny Tiny RSS: An Open Source Web-Based Reader
Tiny Tiny RSS is an open-source web-based news feed (RSS/Atom) reader and aggregator designed to read news from any location while feeling as close to a desktop application.
Pros
Self-hosted: Provides complete control over data and privacy by allowing users to install TT-RSS on their server.
Open-source: Free to use and modify the code according to individual requirements.
Broad plugin compatibility: A large selection of plugins is available to expand functionality.
Flexible feed management: Supports various feed formats and allows for advanced filtering and categorization.
Cons
Steep learning curve: Installation and configuration can be challenging for non-technical users due to its complex settings and outdated interface.
Potential performance issues: You may experience slow loading times on older hardware or with many feeds.
6. Feeder RSS: A Simple, Straightforward Feed Reader
The feeder is an entirely free/libre feed reader. It supports all standard feed formats, including JSONFeed. It doesn’t track you. It doesn’t require any setup. It doesn’t even need you to create an account!
Pros
Automatic updates: New content from subscribed websites is automatically delivered to the user's feed reader as soon as it is published.
Customizable reading experience: Users can choose how to view content within their RSS reader, including filtering and sorting options.
Potential for increased website traffic: When a website offers an RSS feed, users can easily subscribe and share content, potentially driving more visitors to the site.
No algorithm interference: Unlike social media feeds, RSS feeds present content based on the published order, not an algorithm.
Cons of using a Feeder RSS
Requires a dedicated reader: Users need to download and use a separate RSS reader to access feeds, which can be a barrier for some users.
Less visually appealing: Compared to social media platforms, RSS feeds may lack visual elements like images and formatting, making them less engaging for some users.
7. Reeder: The All-in-One RSS Reader
Reeder is your all-in-one inbox for reading, watching, and listening to content from various sources.
Pros
Cross-platform syncing: Reeder smoothly syncs across multiple devices, allowing you to access your feeds on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Extensive service integration: Reeder supports a wide range of services beyond RSS feeds, including social media accounts, podcasts, and video platforms, allowing for a centralized content consumption experience.
Focus on reading experience: Reeder prioritizes a distraction-free reading environment with customizable font options and themes.
Cons
Price: Reeder is a paid app, which can be a barrier for some users, especially when compared to free RSS readers.
Limited filtering options: While Reeder offers basic filtering capabilities, it may not be as robust as other RSS readers for advanced feed management.
Pros and Cons of Feedly
The User-Friendly Experience of Feedly
Feedly features a clean and easy-to-navigate design that lets you quickly get the hang of the platform. Adding new sources, organizing your feeds, and moving through content takes only a few clicks. This straightforward interface makes it easy to pick up and start curating your content immediately.
Customize Feedly to Fit Your Needs
No two content creators are alike. A good Feedly alternative should allow for high customization. With Feedly, you can categorize your feeds, set read/unread statuses, and filter content based on your specific interests to help identify the articles that matter most.
Personalize Your Content Curation With Feedly
Are you interested in finding a specific type of content to help improve your marketing strategy? Feedly lets you select and aggregate your preferred news sources in one place. This enables you to create a personalized news feed that prioritizes the topics and types of content you want to read.
Let AI Help You Find Your Content
One of the most impressive features of Feedly is its AI-powered capabilities. The “Leo” AI helps users identify relevant articles and prioritize content based on their preferences. This can help you reduce the time it takes to curate content so you can focus on other essential tasks, such as creating your content.
Feedly Integrations Help You Boost Productivity
In addition to helping users organize their content, Feedly lets you connect with other productivity tools and social media platforms. This makes it easy to share and distribute your curated content. For example, you can connect Feedly to platforms like Slack, Trello, and Buffer to help you streamline your workflow.
Access Feedly on Mobile Devices
Feedly also offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. This allows you to curate content on the go to stay on top of your marketing strategy no matter where you are.
The Limitations of Feedly’s Free Plan
Although Feedly does offer a free version, it comes with several limitations. For instance, the free plan restricts the number of sources you can follow and the features available. You must upgrade to a paid subscription to unlock Feedly's full power.
Feedly May Create Biased Feeds
Another drawback of using Feedly to help curate content is that its AI-driven content selection may inadvertently prioritize certain viewpoints or sources. This can create a biased feed that skews the content you will see, which may not always be ideal.
Advanced Features Come at a Cost
While Feedly offers robust features, accessing them often requires a premium subscription. For instance, advanced search, team sharing, and more robust filtering options are not available on the free plan. Instead, you must upgrade to access these tools.
Related Reading
• How to Find Trending Hashtags on Instagram
• What Hashtags Are Trending on YouTube
• TikTok Trend Discovery
• Instagram Reels Trends
• Social Media Trend Tracker
• Brandwatch Alternatives
• Google Trends Alternative
Go Viral with Virlo's Virality Analysis Tool
Virlo helps short-form content creators crack the code of virality through AI-powered trend analysis. Our platform combines creator insights with advanced analytics to identify winning content patterns, optimal posting times, and successful audio/video combinations that help your content stand out in today's fast-moving social landscape.
Perfect for independent creators looking to build a sustainable side business, Virlo takes the guesswork out of content strategy. We analyze the latest viral trends and help you understand when to post and what combinations of elements drive engagement. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your existing content, Virlo enables you to navigate the ever-changing algorithms to increase your chances of going viral. Go viral with Virlo's virality analysis tool.
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