Written on May 13th, 2007 at 08:05 pm by Darren Rowse
Which Feed Reader is Best?
Time for a little reader debate discussion.
Which Feed Reader do you use and Why?
Are you a Google Reader fan? A Bloglines junkie? Do you prefer NewsGator, Firefox Live Bookmarks or Netvibes? Or do you prefer to follow blogs via MyYahoo or iGoogle?
Which one do you use - why?
Leave us a mini review - it’ll be interesting to see what trends emerges from the discussion.
232 Responses to “Which Feed Reader is Best?”
Parapsychology articles and blog
May 13th, 2007 8:41 pm
Online: I was using bloglines.com for a long time but about a month ago switched to Google Reader and found it to be a lot better.
Offline on my Mac: I was using Vienna (free) and then switched to Newsfire which is faster (but costs money).
Ali
May 13th, 2007 8:43 pm
I use Netvibes mostly I also have various accounts on Google, Bloglines and Pageflakes just to get a change in look and design sometimes.
Why I prefer Netvibes the most is because it lets me add a lot more modules and basically run everything I ever do on the internet from reading blog feeds, to mainstream news feeds, comics :) and more.
The only thing missing would be a module like scribefire/performancing to write my blog post from within netvibes, then my online office is complete.
Erica
May 13th, 2007 8:50 pm
I’ve always used newsgator, I like simplicity :)
georg
May 13th, 2007 8:54 pm
NetNewsWire.
It handles my vast amount of feeds much better than any web app I’ve tried so far and it’s integrated well with MacOS X and some third-party tools. I have it open all the time and it has always worked stably for me. It also comes with a free 1-year subscription to NewsGator and there’s a free “Lite” version available.
I’ve tried some other dedicated feed readers for the Mac, such as NewsFire or Vienna, but none of them could steer me away from NetNewsWire. If you want to follow (well, at least subscribe to) a lot of feeds and use a Mac, this is the way to go.
Matt
May 13th, 2007 8:55 pm
I’ve never been a big fan of online-based feed readers. I use NetNewsWire on my Mac, never had a problem with it.
Marvin Sum
May 13th, 2007 8:57 pm
Google Reader.
I work on different computers (at home and at uni), so a web-based reader is really necessary to grab my updates as soon as possible.
Google Reader really needs a search function though, it’s annoying having to wade through old posts.
Stephane
May 13th, 2007 9:00 pm
I’m a happy Netvibes user. Its interface is clean, you can easily subscribe tons of newsfeeds, order them in tabs, and get to know how many news items you still have to read.
Productivity-wise, using Netvibes drastically reduced the time I’ve been spending keeping up to date with the flood of news coming from blogs and news sites I enjoy reading.
Sreejith
May 13th, 2007 9:07 pm
I use a Linux box and I use Liferea mostly but I’m also a heavy Bloglines user. I hate proprietary software and Newsgator !!
So, here’s it :
1) Liferea.
2) Bloglines.
Holger
May 13th, 2007 9:09 pm
Since I have moved from Windows to Ubuntu Linux I am using Liferea as a feed reader. For when do not have my own computer at hand I have configured iGoogle to show me the most important feeds.
Marc
May 13th, 2007 9:19 pm
Still like BlogBridge. Synchronisation, so you can use one account on serveral locations/pc’s, easy smartfeed creation, fast updates and nice user interface. One disadvantage: only free when using less then 300 feeds.
AL
May 13th, 2007 9:19 pm
Google Reader for one not so obvious reason:
Serendipity.
In other words, I log in, go to ‘All Items’ view and just sit back and tell my reader (as I go through all the items): surprise me.
Ivan Brezak Brkan
May 13th, 2007 9:21 pm
NetNewsWire. Period :)
JFB
May 13th, 2007 9:26 pm
I like Netvibes a lot, and not only because they are French.
I use them as my landing page to the internet. It’s my personal portal. I use it as a RSS feed reader, to check my Gmail accounts, weather forecast, listen to my favorite music feeds, etc.
It’s not like tab browsing with firefox, as you don’t always actually visit the sites. It’s more like an desktop app within the browser.
Their great idea has been the Netvibes Ecosystem, where people can contribute to new modules…
Barry Welford
May 13th, 2007 9:38 pm
I’ve been a long-term Bloglines user and I cover over 300 newsfeeds to a greater or lesser extent. I like the amount of information that Bloglines manages to cram into the screen.
I checked out Firefox Live Bookmarks when it came out but it had some awkward features. I still keep my Google Reader going but rarely visit. It just misses slightly versus the features that Bloglines does for me, but it’s not good enough to attract me away. Recently I saw some folk were happy with NewsHutch and it’s still sitting on my Favorites toolbar. It’s pretty but for me it’s not a power tool.
manu
May 13th, 2007 9:51 pm
I user bloglines, all the day. First i used Thunderbird for rss, but now i’ve switch to mac and using Mail for mail, and bloglines for rss feeds.
Maybe i’ll try google reader.
Deb
May 13th, 2007 9:56 pm
I subscribe to several hundred feeds using Bloglines but am considering a switch to Google Reader. Lately Bloglines has been acting a bit funny.
- Deb
Arjun Muralidharan
May 13th, 2007 9:58 pm
Newsfire on the Mac is absolutely my reader of choice. It features a great interface, familiar from iTunes, and brings just enough features that help you cut through your feeds. It has Smart Feeds, which can aggregate posts that match certain criteria, for example a Smart Feed collecting all blog posts containg the word “money” or all posts published within the last 24 hours.
Apart from that I like the idea of an offline reader as there are no loading times involved. I do quite a bit of clicking about, and flagging posts etc. Google Reader just bugs me with it’s “Loading” box.
Newsfire is inexpensive compared to it’s bloaty big brother, NetNewsWire.
Berci Meskó
May 13th, 2007 10:10 pm
I use a free program downloaded from feedreader.com. I love it as it’s user-friendly, it works offline and has a simple design.
Frenchmat
May 13th, 2007 10:15 pm
Definitely Netvibes !
I’ve tried Google reader and Bloglines but I’ve dropped them quickly because their are not good to visually display which feeds has been updated.
You can do this at a glance with a Netvibes page and your tabs.
I also had the impression that Netvibes updates faster than both Google reader and Bloglines.
And I follow almost a hundred feeds…
Jayce Ooi
May 13th, 2007 10:16 pm
I am using Firefox Live Bookmarks. :)
Dumitru Tira
May 13th, 2007 10:18 pm
I use Bloglines with Jon Hick’s bloglines os x theme, which you can get here: http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/bloglines-skin-142
and also for google reader: http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/google-reader-theme-09
cheers.
noemi
May 13th, 2007 10:24 pm
I use various computers and laptops at my home office so I use Google Reader. It’s quite delayed though.
raising4boys.com
May 13th, 2007 10:24 pm
Another vote for NetNewsWire.
raising4boys.com
May 13th, 2007 10:27 pm
Related to my above comment, I’ve tried really, really hard to love NewsFire but I just can’t get my head around it. That’s probably because NNW was my first experience with RSS feeds at all, so it’s now hard-wired.
lassej
May 13th, 2007 10:31 pm
NetNewsWire has unbeatable sortiment, for which i use:
- NetNewsWire on my mac
- Newsgator on web
- Newsgator Go on my Nokia -phone
And everything keeps in sync perfectly!
Jen / domestika
May 13th, 2007 10:34 pm
Put me down as “undecided”…
It’s all mad wavering between Pageflakes, Google, Bloglines, Newsgator, Firefox live bookmarks and Sage extension, Netvibes, even a few feeds stashed on a Yahoo page - I’ve yet to get around to trying NetNewsWire, though, so perhaps that will turn out to be the feed reader of my dreams…
Wolfgang Maslo
May 13th, 2007 10:38 pm
Netvibes. Its an online office I can use on every place in the whole world.
Chris
May 13th, 2007 10:40 pm
I prefer the Bloglines gadget for the Vista Sidebar.
Andrea
May 13th, 2007 10:45 pm
I use Bloglines and am happy with it. I tried Google Reader for a while but I couldn’t get used it. I probably didn’t give it long enough. I think it was a case of ‘can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ so I’m sticking to Bloglines.
Leanne
May 13th, 2007 10:47 pm
I’m a creature of habit - I got used to Bloglines and that’s where I’ll stay. It’s a matter of familiarity to me. I started up a google reader but it just didn’t do it for me the way Bloglines does. If I don’t feel like it fits my way of reading or the way I feel information should be presented, I have a hard time giving it much more thought, there are too many alternatives out there.
:)
Neerav
May 13th, 2007 10:47 pm
I prefer the Sage extension for Firefox
Jeremy Steele
May 13th, 2007 11:00 pm
I use e-mail if the site offers it, but otherwise I use Google Reader, just because it’s by Google.
Suz
May 13th, 2007 11:02 pm
I use Google Reader, I think it’s simple to use and works fine for me.
BlogBridge » If you love BlogBridge, say “amen”!
May 13th, 2007 11:03 pm
[…] just came across another “which Blog reader do you like best” polls. It would be great if you support our project if you throw in a vote for us there. All […]
Alfa
May 13th, 2007 11:03 pm
I’ve been using Bloglines since time immemorial but I hate it whenever it undergoes maintenance which is happening more and more often nowadays.
wooncherk
May 13th, 2007 11:04 pm
Google Reader… i think it’s the best… and together with Google ToolBar… adding new feeds and reading old feeds is just as simply as one click… forgot to tell… i’m a Google fans… haha…
Ryan Dlugosz
May 13th, 2007 11:06 pm
Bloglines exclusively. I’ve tried Google Reader as well, but BL just seems to work better for me.
Rhys
May 13th, 2007 11:07 pm
I use google reader with a number of firefox plugins.
Judi Sohn
May 13th, 2007 11:09 pm
I use Netvibes for the handful of feeds that I want to keep very up-to-date on. The rest (and that list is around 600-700 feeds now) I track with Google Reader. I tried Bloglines, then Newsgator and Google Reader is fastest and easiest to navigate, and still accessible from my phone.
Dennis Bjørn Petersen
May 13th, 2007 11:10 pm
I’m using iGoogle (www.google.com/ig). I’ve used it since the beta. It is very smooth, fast and easy. Actually so fast and light in graphics that I use it as my start page.
I can define how many headlines I want to see (usually 3) and it shows the local weather and my gmail inbox.
Netvibes is appealing and I might change one day, but for now iGoogle does the trick for me.
Deb
May 13th, 2007 11:10 pm
Not the Deb in #16. I just started using Google Reader on Friday. I had stalled getting on the “feed’ wagon for months and it was actually an article by Amy Gahran that moved me off the fence. I am using Google because I already have a Google account. I was amazed at what using a reader did for my time-blog investment interface. I was crazy to have tried to manage without one. But I appreciate the information on other services and the suggestions that there are some that might be a better fit for my use style. But for the moment as a newbie I would recommend Google Reader to someone who already has an account and wants to explore if a reader is the right approach for them.
Paul Nilsen
May 13th, 2007 11:13 pm
I use Google reader due to its relative ease of use, in addition to the fact that it is easily accesible on mobile phones.
Although popularity of feed readers amongst bloggers is noteworthy, I think the more compelling question is how to make feed readers more accesible to the mass market.
advertising archive
May 13th, 2007 11:15 pm
I tried many and I ended up with Google Reader. I love that I can access it anywhere from home or office. I love the star feature, so I can mark the interesting articles and save them for later read. It just does everything I expect from a feed reader.
Allyn
May 13th, 2007 11:21 pm
I switch between Newshound and Google Reader. Both use ajax goodness and are very simple to use.
Kay Smoljak
May 13th, 2007 11:25 pm
I use FeedDemon on my tablet PC, syncing with Newsgator, because it is a superbly crafted piece of software. The interface is a real pleasure to use, especially compared to clunky web-based readers.
engtech
May 13th, 2007 11:25 pm
Google Reader all the way.
Also, you may be interested in this:
http://engtech.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/the-secret-behind-why-blog-readers-unsubscribe/
I take your study about why people unsubscribe to RSS feeds (too much posts or too few posts) and compare it to the various RSS reader software — the reason why people unsubscribe is because of what reader they use!
RSS newsniche
May 13th, 2007 11:36 pm
Been using Bloglines for some time. It has it’s little quirks but has served well as a feed reader.
In the past I have tried numerous readers and find web based readers are more efficient.
One day maybe I will give Google reader a go or if this poll turns up anything new.
Rob O.
May 13th, 2007 11:36 pm
I started with Google Reader and haven’t been compelled to switch. I especially like that I can keep up with my feeds from any computer with a browser.
Taban
May 13th, 2007 11:37 pm
Online, I use Bloglines for a long time, I think from the very first moment I learned about RSS and now I am a fan of it. I think it is a professional RSS reader and much better than Google’s Reader. Offline, I use ActiveRefresh.
Martin
May 13th, 2007 11:38 pm
I use both bloglines and google newsreader. I still mainly use Bloglines for the simple reason that I can launch directly from my system tray with out having to on-line first and then pullup a reader.
If I can do that with Google I may switch completely.
But bloglines to me still does what I need it to do, so that is another reason I haven’t jumped ship completely to Google.
c.urdaneta
May 13th, 2007 11:38 pm
Definitely NetNewsWire
Brian Auer
May 13th, 2007 11:41 pm
Google Reader — It just works. Never had any issues with it and I’m a huge Google fan. I only wish it had search capabilities. Kind of weird coming from the search giant.
MakeMoneyAtHome
May 13th, 2007 11:48 pm
I use Google Reader. I’ve to try others yet. So, Google Reader is simple to use.
John Parsons
May 13th, 2007 11:56 pm
I’ve fairly recently recently moved to Google Reader and I’m finding it so easy to use I just wouldn’t use anything else at the moment.
It has faults (like lack of search) but I’m finding it very good.
Justin
May 13th, 2007 11:58 pm
it is bloglines all the way for me. and only because that was the first one i used, liked it, so have no reason to change. if it aint broke, dont fix it?
Nadav Samet
May 14th, 2007 12:03 am
Bloglines.
It is interesting whether the results here will match FeedBurner’s stats?
Sunlust
May 14th, 2007 12:03 am
I use a build-in one in Opera (Opera is a free browser for those who don’t know)
Works great for me.
Scott
May 14th, 2007 12:07 am
I like the application based reader over web based. It lets you know exactly how many new feeds are available as soon as they are posted. I also use bloglines though for when im traveling and away from my computer.
I like Vienna the best as far as mac application based readers
Steve
May 14th, 2007 12:10 am
Google Reader.
A couple of reasons:
I can use it from any computer, and have it pick up where I left off.
I can read through feeds quickly.
I can use Google Reader to “Share” an item, and then it can show up in a little gizmo I have on my blog for everyone to see, under “I’m also reading”. I’ve always wanted to have something that let me post article titles like that, plus it points to new blogs for people to surf too. I realize that other readers can probably do this, but since I like Google Reader, it works nicely for me.
Trevor Carpenter
May 14th, 2007 12:14 am
Vienna at home, on the Mac.
GReader at work, and elsewhere.
Sergei Dolmatov
May 14th, 2007 12:19 am
Google Reader.
Web-based, so I can access it everywhere.
AJAXed, so it works very quick.
Keyboard-controlled, so I can train my fingers, not mouse. ;)
My Mother Married a Felon
May 14th, 2007 12:20 am
I use NetNewsWire Lite (free) on my Mac, as well as keeping some blogs (including this one) right on my google homepage.
Rebecca
May 14th, 2007 12:37 am
Google Reader rocks!
Richard
May 14th, 2007 12:38 am
I use NewsFire; I’ve experimented with them all, but I always come bact to this one… .
Deano
May 14th, 2007 12:40 am
I use google reader; mainly as I find keeping everything together in my google account very convienient.
raising4boys.com
May 14th, 2007 12:43 am
Darren: Which one do you use?
Rehuel
May 14th, 2007 12:47 am
I tested some online newsreaders a while back. I found that they were slower to display the feeds than my offline Akregator, a KDE feed reader for Linux.
http://www.afewgoodnotes.com/2007/03/13/reader-test-the-results-are-in/
Turulcsirip - hirbehozo
May 14th, 2007 12:47 am
[…] is the best feed reader? Interesting experiences. http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/05/13/which-feed-reader-is-best « előző | hirbehozo — 2007. 05. 13. […]
Manas
May 14th, 2007 12:47 am
Google Reader rocks….
I simply love it … loads faster and has some cool stats (shich I dont use :P ). I was using NewsHutch earlier but it was too slow to load. So I switched to Google Reader.
SEO Expert Blog
May 14th, 2007 12:48 am
After using thunderbird for a will I first switched to Google’s personalized homepage because I work with different computers and operating systems and didn’t want to bother about keeping my subscriptions in sync.
Then I switched to Google reader. It is easier to keep track of the feeds you have not read yet and I like the feature of starring feeds for reading them later. Another pro is that you can export your subscriptions as an OPML file. So I will propably switch to Gregarious, an open source web based feed reader, sometime in the furure for privacy reasons.
Harry Maugans
May 14th, 2007 12:52 am
Google reader here.
Great system. :)
Mjuboy
May 14th, 2007 12:53 am
iGoogle for now.
Roberta
May 14th, 2007 12:54 am
I use Bloglines because it’s the first feed reeder I’ve used and I got used to the layout. It’s easy to read.
Vinch
May 14th, 2007 12:54 am
I use Google Reader because I like the way it shows informations. I tried Netvibes but it becomes difficult to manage when you follow a lot of feeds.
Mr.Byte
May 14th, 2007 12:56 am
Though Google reader lacks design it is the best in usability…
Barman
May 14th, 2007 1:10 am
Google Reader because I don’t know anything else. It doesn’t make any sense that it doesn’t have a search feature though. C’mon king of search, let me at least search my feeds.
Rudy
May 14th, 2007 1:19 am
Google Reader Rocks!
I also use (believe it or not) … Mozilla Thunderbird. Right in your email. Very Nice.
Dave Marshall
May 14th, 2007 1:22 am
I switched from bloglines to google reader, very happy with it so far.
Rob
May 14th, 2007 1:25 am
I would say NewsHutch (http://newshutch.com/) is the absolute best online reader: it has no useless features like tagging, no bloated interface, and it’s minimal by design.
Katrina
May 14th, 2007 1:25 am
I use google, but I don’t use the reader, I use their interactive homepage. I don’t know if the platform is the same as their reader but I like using the homepage because I can add more than just feeds, I can add bookmarks, a calendar, notebooks, and a gmail box. It’s kind of like my online organiser.
Bill Nad
May 14th, 2007 1:29 am
Wow, I guess I am in the minority here. I use an offline, Windows reader. Great News is most common but I used to use Sharpreader which is also a good one
Sean
May 14th, 2007 1:39 am
Personally I’m a google reader user.
Unfortunately, I’ve not really explored the “feed reader landscape” much, and I’m happy to have found netvibes, it looks incredible and I’ll be using it in the near future.
Also, to the commenter above, there are two modules that I saw that allow you to write blog posts:
http://eco.netvibes.com/modules/5039/wordpress.com-admin-panel
and
http://eco.netvibes.com/modules/3147/blog-it-
Enjoy.
Jon-Michael
May 14th, 2007 1:41 am
I really like endo for Macs. Click on the link for a better explanation, but all in all it is aesthetically beautiful, organized, and powerful. For me that says a lot.
Jason
May 14th, 2007 1:46 am
Since I use a mac at home and a PC for work, a web-based reader is a must. I’ve played around with most of them, and used netvibes for a while… but Google Reader came out as the champ in my book.
Michael Rew
May 14th, 2007 1:46 am
I use Windoze LP’s Internet Exploder 7’s Favorite system. Since I don’t subscribe to a lot of blogs, it does the job for me.
Markus Merz
May 14th, 2007 1:52 am
Offline: BlogBridge - Beside being a powerful reader with server sync function BlogBridge also offers a great (and working) way to do easy reblogging with an integrated little editor and sends the articles directly to your blog. Recommended!
Online: Gregarius Just this week I have installed Gregarius which is a pretty nice personal feed aggregator. Big advantage: Greagarius spits out an RS Feed for every (!) single page. I use this softawre to skim news headlines and flag articles as recommended by title. There is a reblogging plugin but I did not get it to work with my Textpattern XML-RPC.
Alternative: As an online reblogging solution I would have loved to test reBlog but it has serious authentication issues on my server. Admin directory level is above reFeed level which makes http-authentication a pain in a restricted environment.
Jay Wilson
May 14th, 2007 2:11 am
I used to use Bloglines, I used to use Google Reader (both the old style and the new), but Netvibes has become my reader of choice. I find it far simpler to keep track of unread posts.
Ravi Udeshi
May 14th, 2007 2:18 am
I started using RSS feeds the day Google Reader came out, and I dont think I’ll ever go back. As for other readers…I only hear about people switching *to* GR, and not the other way around :-).
@Raising4Boys
I *think* Darren has said he uses Google Reader, but don’t hold me to it.
Jason
May 14th, 2007 2:23 am
Feeds 2.0
I got a beta account about two months ago and I’m thrilled! It has a full ajax interface, its ultra fast and - most importantly - it learns my preferences and shows interesting feed posts at the top of the page!!
Jim Logan
May 14th, 2007 2:28 am
Simple. Hands-down Netvibes is the best.
Netvibes gives you a look at multiple posts from multiple sites - the fastest scan available. And the ability to review a post from a site or feed view makes surfing your subscriptions and posting comments a breeze…I’m doing it now.
I’ve tried them all - Bloglines, Google Reader, Firefox, My Yahoo, Newsgator…absolutely none come close to Netvibes.
Sam
May 14th, 2007 2:35 am
Google Reader.
Using Mozilla and some Grease Monkey scripts it works great.
Clicksonthefly
May 14th, 2007 2:37 am
I prefer google reader for its simplicity. Ability to mark items as read or starred as you go.
Andy Merrett
May 14th, 2007 2:40 am
Switched to Google Reader from Bloglines about 6 months ago, and prefer it for speed, navigability, shortcuts, etc. I use an online reader exclusively now, as I flit between computers even in the same house. This may sound a little sad, but sometimes I ’star’ a number of articles on my office computer, and then take the laptop on Wi-Fi to another part of the house and work on them. :)
Frank Milson
May 14th, 2007 2:41 am
Thunderbird. Everyone’s there with one click..
John Bokma
May 14th, 2007 2:53 am
Firefox live bookmarks, which is not a big surprise since I wrote http://johnbokma.com/firefox/rss-and-live-bookmarks.html and still stand behind it. I don’t want to spend too much time reading online, and have to be quite selective in what I read, so just having the headlines makes that I have to chose based on just those instead of discovering that I have been reading for 3 hours.
Lokesh googol
May 14th, 2007 2:58 am
I use google reader ,and most of us use google reader,mine is the 13th vote for google so far among 48
Simmons
May 14th, 2007 3:00 am
Firefox Live Bookmarks because they are always there, just sitting at the top of your browser. They are simple and easy to view.
Duplicate Content Checker
May 14th, 2007 3:09 am
I’ve used Google Reader for as long as I could remember. I switch from PC to laptop to PC a lot, both for work and non-work related browsing, and I guess I’ve been so used to Google Reader that I never bothered to switch completely.
Steve Roesler
May 14th, 2007 3:11 am
I use both Google Reader and Netvibes and am in the process of making a decision which way to go. Right now, am leaning toward iGoogle because they’ve simply integrated so much that I’m getting vacuumed into Google world domination!
But still haven’t made the final decision and have more back-and-forth examination of the two before zapping one of them
Jay Thompson
May 14th, 2007 3:13 am
Bloglines, simply because it was one of the first I tried that I liked and I just stuck with it. Easy to use, easy to see which feeds have been updated and “portable” across PCs.
Matt McDonald
May 14th, 2007 3:15 am
I’m a big fan of Google Reader. I’ve been using the iGoogle page as my homepage and I love the ability to put my feed reader, email, calendar and other useful stuff right at my fingertips.
Nathan Gilmer
May 14th, 2007 3:42 am
I use FeedReader 3 from i-systems inc. It is a great program but I hardly see anybody using it. It is a stand-alone program that looks similar to a e-mail program. Three different windows to select source/post/text. you can categorize your feeds and search old ones as well. It has tons of customizable options. It also has a category called Unread News which makes it easy to see only the new feeds.
I also occasionally use Google Reader when I am not on my own computer.
Zahra
May 14th, 2007 3:44 am
Google Reader is my choice because it’s easy on the eyes. It allows me to categorize everything the way I want to with the option of starring or sharing an item. I enjoy sharing my items with friends who follow what I’m reading. There are some options I wish it had like an easier way to find stuff you’re starred but overall I’m happy with it.
chlee
May 14th, 2007 3:50 am
I use both Firefox Live Bookmarks and Google Reader. Likely to keep them both for the near future.
Emma
May 14th, 2007 3:52 am
I use bloglines and like it a lot, but I’m getting curious about Google Reader.
Patrick
May 14th, 2007 3:54 am
I have been using Bloglines for a while now. It works great for me. I can put my feeds in categories and actually that’s all I need. Bloglines’ interface is good enough to scroll through my feeds and read the lot. I am sure there are better readers out there, but I do not care. It’s Bloglines for me now.
Greg Lunger
May 14th, 2007 3:59 am
Netvibes for me.
With the Tabs it is so simple to catagorise feeds. A Tab for how to blog feeds. A Tab for searching for blogs. a Tab for vegie blog and on and on.
Set it up just how you want it.
Love it !!!******
Michael GR
May 14th, 2007 4:07 am
I use RSS Owl.
CGDotNet
May 14th, 2007 4:24 am
I am really surprised that no one has mentioned GreatNews. It’s free and quite easy to use.
off-topic: I have never understood those who have 100+, or 1000+(!!) feeds. How in heck can anyone read all those feeds?
My feed list is less than 20 and will remain that way. If I want to add a feed, another one has got to go - so my reading is only the best of the best. Otherwise it is a major time-sucker. When I die, I don’t want think, as I go: “Wow, I had a great life, I had 2002+ feeds in my feedreader!!”
*shakes head*
Anyway, GreatNews is here: http://www.curiostudio.com/
Darren, I would like to see a discussion on the best offline blog writing tools as well, such as Windows LiveWriter, if that has not been done already. Thanks! :-)
wintersweet
May 14th, 2007 4:24 am
I actually read all of my feeds through Livejournal.com, believe it or not. I have various filters (comics, news, important, spare time) and it works out pretty well. And since most of my actual friends’ blogs are on Livejournal (yes, even though we’re all adults), it makes things more efficient. Otherwise, I’d probably use Google Reader.
J.D. Meier's Blog
May 14th, 2007 4:25 am
Feed Readers…
Darren asks Which Feed Reader is Best? I was going to just add a comment, but it quickly turned into…
GlennDavid
May 14th, 2007 5:00 am
i am a great fan of Endo by Kula, the same people who made the famous Ecto blogging tool, they intergrate like treat!
The top-bar are your categories, and then you feeds are bundled by vertical tabs, your inbox tells you how much new messages you have.
an other nice feature is a “Me” tab, that way you can keep tracj of your stats on Technorati, and del.icio.us.
best feed-app ever according to me and a beautifull app-icon!!!!!! (only for mac)
greets
Glenn
Ehab
May 14th, 2007 5:20 am
I use PageFlakes - serves me just right - and the people who made it are from my Country : ) . .
Pallab
May 14th, 2007 5:42 am
I use Feed Reader Built into Opera Browser
Why?
i) I get informed as soon as there is a new feed to read.
ii) I dont need to open another applicaiton or visit another website.
iii) It dont need advanced features like grouping feeds into folders or tagging them. I only have about 30 feeds.
iv) I dont like web based feed readers. Opera stores the feeds offline. So everytime I switch from one feed to another it doesnt need to be reloaded. Also opera manages to display all kinds of content including embedded videos which somes feed readers cant.
v) It does the job unlike Live Bookmarks.
Anna Farmery
May 14th, 2007 5:44 am
I am a converted Google Reader fan - love it!
Nocturnal
May 14th, 2007 5:45 am
I personally use Google Reader. At one point I tried NetVibes, too cluttered and cutsey for me. Then I tried MyYahoo but that was just too little. Google Reader is just right.
Hagrin
May 14th, 2007 6:20 am
Wow, surprised to only see one other vote for FeedDemon.
With FeedDemon’s Newsgator syncing option, I can basically read my news on my work machines and home machines without double reading, yet get the speed of a desktop application as opposed to the slower web based options. After using FeedDemon, Google Reader, the best web based RSS reader, is just too slow for reading over 200 feeds a day.
Alex
May 14th, 2007 6:22 am
I used Google reader before but I left it because I wasn’t able to load my feeds for 2 days. I don’t know if anyone else had the same problem but I feel that Google reader is unreliable.
I’ve been using Bloglines ever since and I’m completely satisfied with it!
themage
May 14th, 2007 6:29 am
Hi Darren,
I’m a Linux user, and don’t myself using an online reader even if I’m online 99% of the time I have my laptops on. The reason is that I’m at the same time an Information Junkie and have simptoms of ADD or hiperactivity (don’t know if those two are really diferent things or diferent aspects of the same thing). If I used an online tool for this I’ld be all the time refreshing the page or checking the browser window for new stories.
The way I found to concentrate more time in the same thing is having (and sometimes creating) tools that put all the information where my eyes can see it. That’s why I prefer desktop applications for everything (or almost everything).
So I use Akregator (the KDE feed reader). On the same line of thought, I don’t use WebMails also (Kmail is the choice), wrote a small aplication with GTK to check my Adsense stats (Perl GTK Adsense Checker), and every tool that I use that can have new information for me without my interaction need to have a desktop interface (even minimal), send emails to me, or have a RSS/Atom feed that I can subscribe.
Knowing that I can’t miss a thing, I can then work.
themage
Sugar Mouse In The Rain
May 14th, 2007 6:45 am
Google Reader. A web-based reader is essential since I need to access my feeds from any computer.
Wolf Stone
May 14th, 2007 7:42 am
i use google reader…cause it’s just what came to my mind first…and it does the job …so i’m quite satisfied !!
This Eclectic Life
May 14th, 2007 7:44 am
I started with Bloglines, but was having some difficulties setting up the feeds I wanted to follow. So far, Google Reader is working well enough. I wonder if it’s worth the trouble to try one of the others.
Johan Cyprich
May 14th, 2007 7:58 am
I prefer using Thunderbird for reading RSS feeds. It’s nice having being able to read e-mail, newsgroups, and RSS in one application.
Matt
May 14th, 2007 7:59 am
FeedReader is my choice. Fast and clean.
Google Reader = 578348457 bugs and its slow.
Mad Dog
May 14th, 2007 8:08 am
My three favorite Feed Readers are: FeedDemon, FeedDemon, and FeedDemon. It works, it’s fast, it’s not web -based (though has NewsGator as the web-based component if I ever need it), and it’s flexible.
Hsien Lei
May 14th, 2007 8:41 am
I’ve been using Google Reader for a few months now and find it has less glitches than Bloglines. Recently, Google Reader improved the Email function and I find myself using it daily to send people interesting posts/tips. The posts arrive in the complete format as displayed in the Reader so they’re easy to read without having to click on this link or that link.
Bruce
May 14th, 2007 8:47 am
I’m new to the whole RSS world. Signed up to Google Reader, mainly because I was already using gmail and google calendar. I’ve found Google Reader pretty instinctive and easy to configure, and the functionality is fine, at least for my fairly basic (at this stage) requirements. The positive feedback from many other more experienced bloggers gives me confidence that the reader I’m with is a reasonable choice.
William Lehman
May 14th, 2007 8:51 am
I am a FeedReader fan here myself. The last thing I need is another place to go online.
Dimitri
May 14th, 2007 9:15 am
NewsFire. It is one of the few pay-apps that effectively competes in a market saturated by high-quality free-apps and web-apps.
junger
May 14th, 2007 9:24 am
Sage for Firefox is the best — it doesn’t promise too much, it doesn’t deliver too much. It’s just what I need.
jen
May 14th, 2007 10:18 am
I’m a Google Reader girl and of course I’ve blogged about it http://jaycee.typepad.com/semantics/2007/03/how_using_googl.html
SteelValleyOutdoors
May 14th, 2007 10:33 am
I use iGoogle as a home page and RSS reader.
I’ve found it a lot easier to group RSS feeds into different groups and create a separate tab for each group.
And I still keep the google reader as a block on my homepage for headlines from those feeds I don’t need all that often.
Trula
May 14th, 2007 10:33 am
I use google reader because I use gmail and blogger and other google apps; I can go back and forth without logging out. It’s all the same account. Plus it is easy to use and understand. It’s a snap to add a feed to google and to have it display the way I like.
Mattbob
May 14th, 2007 12:17 pm
I use and love Sage - the firefox extension.
Self Hypnosis
May 14th, 2007 12:29 pm
I’ve only recently started using Google reader and I’ve found it meets my needs just fine. I can’t say much for the other readers as I haven’t tried them yet.
Chris
Lynn
May 14th, 2007 12:51 pm
I’ve been using Google Reader for about a week and love it. I also discovered iGoogle and have been using it with my Google Reader.
Google Reader is simple, and I like that it puts each feed into its own folder. I like that it’s online, so I can access it either on my PC or laptop.
Steve
May 14th, 2007 12:59 pm
Personally I’m a IGoogle homepage reader myself
David Chartier
May 14th, 2007 1:20 pm
NetNewsWire, hands down. It’s incredibly fast, handles any type of feed (including authenticated) you can throw at it, excels as a browser as has a powerful, lightning-fast search.
Sadly, I can’t stand NewsGator online, so for a web-based reader I’m all for Google Reader (aside from its ridiculous lack of search).
Myo Kyaw Htun
May 14th, 2007 1:35 pm
At First, I used default Feed reader comes with Flock Browser. But it make me difficult when I reading from my home machine and office machine. Later, I used Bloglines until Google Reader out. Now, I’m using Google Reader because of it’s feature and handling rss feeds by using folder. And of course, easy to share the posts I like very much to my friend using email feature. Google Reader’s folder [tags] feature can blend so many feeds into one feed. So, we don’t need to use Feed blending service like Feedblendr to blend feeds. And Trends, new feature in Google Reader, gives me suggestion that I can make a decision whether I unsubscribe or not. So, now Google Reader is my favourite rss reader.
Ben Evert
May 14th, 2007 1:42 pm
Still not a big fan of reading feeds because I still like to see the layouts of the blogs I am reading. Learn a few hints and tricks that way. I have used Bloglines and Google Reader and prefer the Google Reader. Maybe someday, I’ll end up being a feed reader.
Fred Brunel
May 14th, 2007 1:47 pm
iGoogle.
I don’t like reading articles out of the context of their website. iGoogle is the perfect balance between RSS notification and a reader. Expand the post and you have a summary, if you want to read more, click on the title and read it on the website. It’s that simple.
To be more organized, I’ve setup mutliple tabs per categories of blogs such as business, technology or jobs.
http://fredbrunel.com/journal/2006/10/why-i-dont-like-rss-readers/
YQ
May 14th, 2007 2:08 pm
For my money… (and I would be willing to pay them) It’s netvibes.
I live in their reader… I’m typing this comment with the netvibes reader. I love the browser within a browser aspect of it.
My 2 cents…
Duplicate Content Checker
May 14th, 2007 2:16 pm
Wow, there’s a lot of RSS action going on in here; hardly any negative debates though, which is good. I’m seeing a lot of variety in feeder preferences. What do reader do you personally use, Darren?
Paul Sayer
May 14th, 2007 2:24 pm
Google Reader - because I can use it at home and work. I haven’t tried many others - as a basic user GR is sufficient.
Jennie Rosenbaum
May 14th, 2007 2:33 pm
I’ve just started using Newsfire on my mac, I love the simple interface, smart lists and the ease of adding new feeds. It integrates with ecto and I can flag feeds for follow up on my blog. I initially tried endo because I love ecto but it really didn’t have the ‘tightness’ I wanted.
Although Newsfire still requires opml import (there is a free safari feeds to opml exporter out there) it’s import is much cleaner than endo’s. t has easy keyboard navigation which has sped my reading up no end.
Jaganath
May 14th, 2007 2:49 pm
I used to be a Bloglines fan, but for the last few months, I am using Google reader extensively. The AJAX backbone makes it pretty fast. Very useful if you have a large number of feeds.
Lisa
May 14th, 2007 3:05 pm
I’m a big Google Reader fan myself.
Steve Trefethen
May 14th, 2007 3:09 pm
Google Reader. Was a bloglines fan for years but switched this year to GR because it’s hands down a better online reader. I too require access from multiple machines and don’t want to maintain an installed client app.
Alex Fayle
May 14th, 2007 3:11 pm
I have my favourite blogs sorted into bookmarks in Firefox. To read them I simply go to the folder and do “open all in tabs.”
I’m a big fan of pull technology rather than push. I want to visit my blogs when I want to, looking at the blog the way the author has designed it.
Feeds and emails just don’t work for me.
Billy Shih
May 14th, 2007 3:50 pm
Netvibes is the best for keeping up with blogs I enjoy reading daily since I can get an organized view of all the stories from my favorite sites. However Google Reeder is by far the greatest when you are looking to research a story to blog about since you can look at skim through hundreds of RSS feed posts without having to load lots of slow pages (like other feed readers).
Steve Trefethen
May 14th, 2007 3:56 pm
Google Reader. Was a bloglines fan for years but switched this year to GR because it’s hands down a better online reader. I too require access from multiple machines and don’t want to maintain an installed client app.
I recently blogged about switching here:
http://www.stevetrefethen.com/blog/GoogleReaderCurrentlyWinsOverBloglinesForOnlineAggregatorsInMyBook.aspx
Nancy R. Callahan
May 14th, 2007 4:20 pm
Another Google Reader fan…
Sammie
May 14th, 2007 4:27 pm
I’m a Google Reader user too, although I did try just about every RSS reader I could get my hands on before deciding on it. It’s simple to use and I’ve got it setup on my iGoogle start page so I can have a quick browse throughout the day.
I also keep a backup of my feedlist and a copy of GreatNews on my usb key. I sync it to read offline when I’m travelling. It’s so handy, I can read at my leisure on my laptop or, if it’s not with me, on any available pc. If I’m away for more than a couple of days, it only takes a few minutes online to resync it and I’m ready to go again. Minimises potentially expensive internet or mobile phone data costs that way :-)
Bryce
May 14th, 2007 4:29 pm
What I want to see is better integration with offline and online readers. I use NetNewsWire Lite because of it’s integration with NewsGator, I wish I could use something else because NG is a horrible online Feed Reader. My dream would be to combine Google Reader online and NewsFire or even NNW Lite offline.
C’mon Web 2.0 entrepreneurs!!
Michael
May 14th, 2007 4:40 pm
I started using the new rss Aggregator site that has a collection of really good rss feeds from all over the net in different niches -check it out - http://www.miniboxs.com
Vincent Chow
May 14th, 2007 4:44 pm
I’m not a fan of any reader, but Google Reader is my primary one, and the only feed reader I’m using. Started using it and sticked to it without bothering to change to another reader - no point since it’s good enough.
Tarek
May 14th, 2007 5:14 pm
Google Reader, it’s light (the most important thing I care about in web applications is to be clean and light and that’s why I prefer Gmail to Yahoo). It’s feature rich, I can share feeds with friends, categorize them.
Luke Razzell
May 14th, 2007 5:24 pm
Let’s hear it for Shrook on the Mac! A little buggy, admittedly, but fast and cleanly designed.
Jaypee
May 14th, 2007 6:18 pm
I use the Sage extension for Firefox and the built-in RSS reader for Flock. I use them coz most of the time I use the same computer. I plan to start using Google Reader too so I’d have an online copy of my daily reads/feeds that I can access in case I’m using somebody else’s computer.
Kuntau
May 14th, 2007 6:24 pm
Im using google reader because it is very easy to use and you can access it anywhere in the world ;) Lets google store what feed it subscribe no need to think about lose it.
Volkan Özçelik
May 14th, 2007 6:28 pm
I love feedreader.
It sometimes has a large memory footprint but the ability to add custom filters to the feeds I follow is priceless.
I can filter my feeds almost any way I like.
And if you follow a few hundred RSS subscriptions filtering immediately becomes your #1 priority.
Other web-based counterparts do have filtering feature to a certain extent.
But they are not close to feed reader.
Another advantage is I can read my feed after downloading them to the reader even if I am offline — for instance in the train, on the way to office.
Cheers
Robin Capper
May 14th, 2007 6:32 pm
I use RSS Bandit as feed reader & browser as most of my browsing these days starts via feeds. RSS Bandit is a local app but allows sync of feed & readstate between computers. Prefer to be independent of web-based readers and found it handles the approx 1000 feeds I monitor well.
Mert Erkal
May 14th, 2007 6:55 pm
So far i have only used Google Reader, and i was satisfied until reading the comments posted here. I think i should try some of those products mentioned here!
Razeen
May 14th, 2007 6:58 pm
I choose Netvibes. Netvibes use clean interface and have many add-ons.
Christian Tietze
May 14th, 2007 7:09 pm
I’m addicted to Google Reader.
I started subscribing to RSS feeds using Mozilla Thunderbird a year ago. I liked that old items were still available (=did not magically disappear just because they were read) and could be flagged. When switching to Gmail and not wanting another XUL-application besides Firefox running in the background all day made me search for an online feed reader.
I didn’t like Bloglines & Co. because the view didn’t comfort me. Reading the feeds wasn’t fun at all. Bloglines, IIRC, didn’t even use whitespace between feed items which made things just worse. Google Reader, which I discovered thanks to Gmail, did the job just fine. Lots of space, the content was readable easyly and the design as simple as possible. I like that the navigation/sidebar is in a big colorfulbox and not just seperated from the content using a thin line. The design wasn’t hip, but it made reading feeds fun. I could star items like in Thunderbird, I was even able to assign tags, discovered that tagging a feed results in assigning it to a folder and learnt the keyboard shotcuts. Feed-reading with any other application seems impossible to me now.
Thanks to
http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/google-reader-theme
my Google Reader looks really impressive now, too! This CSS file made my favorite feed reader look more like a real application than just yet another multi-colored google app.
Google Reader finally grew up.
That’s it.
Rob Lewis
May 14th, 2007 8:00 pm
Newsgator + FeedDemon for me.
Mark
May 14th, 2007 8:08 pm
I used Bloglines when I started blogging last year. But when I return to work, Bloglines is blocked in my company’s network. I’m done moving all feeds to Netvibes today.
Isaak Kwok
May 14th, 2007 8:09 pm
NetNewsWire on my MBP is my primary newsreader.
If I really have to, then I use either Google Reader or NewsGator Online when I don’t have access