NewsBlur
NewsBlur is a personal reader for RSS and web feeds, syncing feeds across web, iOS, Android, API, and self-hosted use.
What NewsBlur is
NewsBlur is a personal reader for RSS and web feeds, syncing feeds across web, iOS, Android, API, and self-hosted use. Readers can train feeds to highlight or hide stories by author, tag, or title; Archive adds full-text training. Web Feeds monitor sites that do not provide RSS and deliver updates as custom feeds. The free plan supports up to 64 sites and includes real-time RSS updates, story saving, and mobile apps. New accounts receive a 30-day Premium trial without a credit card, then retain their feeds and training on the free tier. Paid plans include Premium at $36 /year, Premium Pro at $29 /month, and Premium Archive at $99 /year. Depending on plan, features include search, River of News, larger site limits, more frequent fetching, Web Feeds, story clustering, a permanent searchable archive, Ask AI, and a daily briefing. NewsBlur also describes IFTTT and Zapier workflows, a public API, and sync with third-party readers such as Reeder, ReadKit, and Unread. The code is open source and can run on a user's own instance with a Docker command. Offline reading is noted for iOS.
Good
- Free plan supports up to 64 sites.
- Feeds can be trained by author, tag, and title.
- Web Feeds cover sites without RSS.
- A 30-day trial requires no credit card.
- Code can be run on a self-hosted instance.
Watch out
- Free plan is limited to 64 sites.
- Offline reading is noted for iOS.
- Archive features require the $99 /year plan.
Who it suits
NewsBlur suits readers who want to organize and train feeds across devices, including people following sites without RSS. Its self-hosted option may appeal to readers who want to run their own instance.
Verdict
NewsBlur offers feed training and cross-platform syncing, with a free tier and a 30-day trial for premium features. Readers who need full-text search, Web Feeds, or an archive should note that those features are associated with paid plans.
Plans and prices
From NewsBlur's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 64 sites · real-time RSS · author/tag/title training · public blurblog · save stories · iOS and Android apps |
| Premium Pro | $29 a month | 10,000 sites · every feed fetched every 5–15 minutes · regular-expression training · priority support · $29 /month |
| Premium | $36 a year | 1,024 sites · feeds updated up to 5x more often · River of News · search · tagged saved stories · private blurblog · custom RSS · Text view · related-site discovery · text/image classifiers · $36 /year |
| Premium Archive | $99 a year | 4,096 sites · Web Feeds without RSS · duplicate-story clustering · daily briefing · configurable read behavior · permanent searchable archive · back-filled feeds · full-text training · classifier notifications · cross-archive discovery · trained-story export · persistent unread stories · Ask AI · date filtering · folder/global training · MCP server and CLI · $99 /year |
| DIY | Priced on request | run your own instance · complete data ownership · Docker single-command installation · customization with Claude Code · Self-Hosted |
The facts
Each one read from NewsBlur's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- AI features
- Archive includes Ask AI for story questions and an AI-generated Daily Briefing.checked 10 Oct 2026
- API terms
- API users must credit NewsBlur, may charge for applications using it, and may not sell advertising against retrieved data.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Ask AI
- Premium Archive includes questions about stories through an Ask AI feature.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Blurblogs
- Users can share stories and discuss them through NewsBlur blurblogs.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Cancellation
- After cancellation, an account reverts to free and keeps feeds up to the free-tier limit, training, and saved stories.checked 10 Oct 2026
- CLI and MCP
- Premium Archive includes a command-line tool, and the project documents a self-hosted MCP server on port 8099.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- The repository documents startup, logs, shells, tests, linting, migrations, databases, configuration variables and MCP deployment.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Full-text reading
- Its Text view extracts the article text for reading inside NewsBlur.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The FAQ says NewsBlur connects with IFTTT and Zapier and can automate actions involving Pocket, Instapaper, Evernote, Notion, Slack and email.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Intelligence training
- Users train stories by liking or disliking attributes such as author, tag and title so NewsBlur emphasizes preferred content.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: dated interface
- Zapier lists dated design as a disadvantage and says River of News requires Premium because free users scroll sites individually.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: mobile and pricing complaints
- Gappsy lists a dated interface, a 64-site free cap, a comparatively expensive $99 Archive tier and less-polished mobile apps.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Notifications
- Premium users can receive browser, email, iOS or Android notifications filtered by their training.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Open-source licence
- The public NewsBlur repository and licence file identify the software as MIT licensed.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Praise: feature depth
- PCWorld described the reader as responsive, sophisticated, ad-free and strong for managing large subscription collections.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Praise: filtering and open source
- Zapier praised NewsBlur's open-source self-hosting and said its automatic filtering was surprisingly effective.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Praise: usability and value
- Trustpilot reviewers described easy setup, fast feed loading, helpful developer support and good pricing for heavy RSS use.checked 15 Oct 2026
Money
- Free-tier limit
- The free plan supports up to 64 sites.checked 10 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Limit: app reliability
- Google Play reviews report missing stories after the trial, login failures, inconsistent loading, weak source previews and no in-app account management.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: iOS and Mac usability
- Apple reviewers report gesture regressions, freezes, awkward layouts, image problems and no synchronized preference backup for native apps.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Mobile apps
- NewsBlur offers native iOS and Android apps, with offline reading noted for iOS.checked 10 Oct 2026
The company
- Maker and founding
- Samuel Clay founded NewsBlur; the company history dates the first build to 2009 and public launch to 2010.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Maker and history
- The About page names Samuel Clay as founder and says NewsBlur's first version was built in 2009 and launched publicly in 2010.checked 10 Oct 2026
- Maker legal address
- Google Play identifies the developer as NewsBlur, Inc. at 835 Cole St Apt 1, San Francisco, California 94117, United States.checked 15 Oct 2026
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