RSS readers are applications that present the website feed data in a better way and display stories published on various websites in one interface. You will find several of them on the internet. Feedly is the most used RSS reader application and Inoreader is its alternative. The former has 5+ million Android device users. The latter one is used by 500k+ users. There is a vast difference between the user base of the two tools but can Inoreader be a good alternative to Feedly? Let’s find it out!
Interface
The layout of the two websites is the same i.e. a sidebar containing the names of categories/sources appears on the left side and the list of items available in a category appears on the right side. If you click on an RSS item, Feedly/Inoreader will display its full content on the right side.
Inoreader has a dashboard page where you will find RSS feeds from various sources arranged in a magazine layout. To the right side of the dashboard, there’s a “trending” widget where the web application shows the most popular stories. You can filter the stories” by day. At the top of the widget, you will find a “refresh” icon. Inoreader will refresh the “trending” widget if you click on this icon. It supports four color schemes – aqua, light, sepia, and dark. The default color theme is dark. Where is the option to change the theme located? You must click on the profile icon to see the option to change the skin.
Inoreader allows you to create a custom dashboard containing the widgets of your choice. You can add the following widgets to this page:
- Recent active log, rules log, most tagged articles.
- Recently starred, liked, commented, and read articles.
- Failing lists, big undread counter, latest news from Inoreader.
- Tips & Tricks, statistics, inactive feeds.
- Recommended stories, what’s new, and currently trending.
Feedly’s interface layout is similar to that of its counterpart. When you open it, the website shows two tabs “Me” & “Explore” on the right side. The “Me” section shows the list of stories available in the RSS feed of a website you follow and have selected on the left section. To discover new sources or to see the trending stories on Feedly, you must click on the “Explore” tab. The site supports four layouts – magazine, card, article, and tile-only. It doesn’t let users create and customize a dashboard.
Inoreader displays the number of RSS items in a specific category in the title bar of the browser’s tab. When the feed gets a new RSS item, you will come to know about this by simply looking at the tab. Feedly shows the name of the category only. It won’t show the count next to the category name.
Feedly UI is good but the size of the text’s font is small. You can increase the font size from the Appearance settings of the website.
Supported sources
The free edition of Inoreader supports these sources – Google News, Newsletter, and Reddit feed. If you have got a subscription plan of the application, you can add these sources – Facebook Page, Telegram channel, and Twitter feed.
Feedly supports integration with Reddit, Pocket, Dropbox, Evernote, and OneNote. If you integrate any service with the news reader application, you can see subreddit posts, notes, etc in the Feedly interface.
Search tool
The search tool is available for free to the users of the Inoreader free plan. When the search function is invoked, the web app will show results and filters to fine-tune them. The Feedly search option is available to all users. However, some of its features are available to Pro/Enterprise plan users only.
Highlighter
Inoreader allows users to create and manage highlighters. What is the use of the highlighter? When you create one, the web application will highlight words of your choice each time you open a feed. Feedly offers a similar feature called “annotation”.
Read later
The “bookmark” option of the two websites allows users to save a feed item for later reading. You can bookmark as many stories as you want.
Subscription plans
Feedly users who want to enjoy premium features can buy one of these 3 subscription packs – Pro, Pro+, and Enterprise. The price of the first two plans is $6 and $12. To know the charges of the Feedly Enterprise subscription pack, you must contact the Feedly Support team.
Inreader has launched 3 paid subscription packs – Supporter, Pro, and Enterprise. “Supporter” costs $1.67 only. To subscribe to the Pro plan, you must pay 8.99 dollars per month. Inoreader is running a 0.99 dollars Pro plan offer. To use or try paid features available to the users of the Inoreader Pro edition for three months, you have to pay just 0.99 x 3 dollars.
