Should you build your own Feedly?
RSS reader and research feed for websites, newsletters, and alerts
Core RSS reading, folders, search, and saved articles are very buildable; Feedly's paid moat is polished feed discovery, mobile, AI features, and reliability.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build me a personal RSS reader to replace Feedly. Requirements:
- Node + Express + better-sqlite3, server-rendered pages, binds to localhost.
- Feeds live in feeds.opml with folders; import my Feedly OPML export on first
run so nothing is retyped.
- Poll every 30 minutes with node-cron, parse with rss-parser, dedupe items by
GUID then link.
- Reader UI: unread counts per folder, an article list with j/k keyboard
navigation, one-key mark-read, and s to star.
- Starred view, plus full-text search over titles and content via SQLite FTS5.
- Optional summarize button per article using an LLM key from .env; hide the
button entirely when no key is set.
- Keep read items 90 days, starred forever, pruned nightly.
- No accounts, no telemetry, local-first.
- Out of scope: mobile apps and feed discovery/suggestions. Adding feeds means
editing the OPML, that is fine.
- README: setup, where the DB lives, and how to export my OPML back out.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running. · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
What would building your own look like?
Parse RSS feeds on a schedule, store items, mark read/saved, expose folders and search, and optionally summarize articles.
What you will need
- hosted cron or local daemon
- RSS parser
- database
- web UI
- optional LLM API
They pay to avoid maintaining hundreds of feeds and reader apps across devices.
xmobile apps
xfeed discovery
xintegrations
xLeo/AI filtering
xuptime
xpolished reading UX
Prefer something ready-made?
FoloA modern hosted research feed with 150 free subscriptions, one inbox and one automation.Open source↗
NewsBlurFeeds, newsletters and trainable filters, in exchange for running several databases.Open source↗License, setup, and limitations for each alternative.
How much does Feedly cost?
- Monthly billing
- $7/mo$7/mo
- Per year
- $84/yr$84/yr
- Annual billing
- $65.04/yr23% cheaper than paying monthly
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$36.58/moR$340/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on Feedly’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| basic | $0/user | $0/user | Up to 100 sources; 3 Feeds; 3 Boards. |
| pro | $7/user≈ $7 | $5.42/user≈ $5.42 | Faster feed polling, search and integrations; annual total is $65. |
| pro+ | custom | - | AI Feeds, RSS Builder and Zapier; feed polling can be as frequent as 7 minutes. |
| enterprise | custom | - | Team feeds, administration and intelligence tools; numeric seat limits and price are quote-based. |
Free tier100 sources; 3 Feeds; 3 Boards
Billing termsPro offers monthly + annual; Pro+ is annual-only; Enterprise is quote-based
Additional costsself-service refunds are limited to 5 days after a charge; Enterprise cost scales by seats and selected intelligence features
verified 2026-08-13 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy Feedly?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (one sitting). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild Feedly?
Yes. A competent AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) can build a usable personal Feedly replacement in one session with the prompt on this page. It runs on your own machine or server with no subscription.
How much does Feedly cost?
Feedly costs about $7/mo (Pro, checked 10/20/2026), which is $65.04 per year. That’s what you save by replacing it with one prompt.
What do I lose by replacing Feedly?
Honestly: mobile apps; feed discovery; integrations; Leo/AI filtering; uptime; polished reading UX. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Feedly?
Yes: Folo (A modern hosted research feed with 150 free subscriptions, one inbox and one automation.) NewsBlur (Feeds, newsletters and trainable filters, in exchange for running several databases.) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.