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NewsBlur vs Totara

NewsBlur logo

NewsBlur

News

A personal news reader bringing people together

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Totara logo

Totara

LMS

Open source learning, performance and collaboration platform derived from Moodle and sold through partners

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only NewsBlur has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: NewsBlur the free account is limited to 64 sites; Totara you cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • They diverge on capability: NewsBlur covers Intelligence training, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which NewsBlur and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where NewsBlur and Totara differ
AttributeNewsBlurTotara
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Linux
CategoryNewsLMS
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in NewsBlur

  • Intelligence training
  • Story sharing
  • Original site view
  • Text view
  • Blurblogs
  • Pocket
  • Instapaper
  • Evernote

Only in Totara

  • Organisational hierarchies
  • Compliance and certification
  • Totara Perform
  • Totara Engage
  • Self-hosting
  • Programs and learning plans

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

NewsBlur

  • Reading RSS feeds with training that filters by author, tag or titlenot Totara
  • Archiving full article content from followed sitesnot Totara
  • Following a large number of feeds with fast refreshnot Totara

Totara

  • Health services and government bodies that must evidence mandatory training by job role across a large hierarchynot NewsBlur
  • Organisations with data residency rules that require the platform to run on their own infrastructurenot NewsBlur
  • Moodle users who need appraisal, competency and compliance features the academic product does not carrynot NewsBlur
  • Buyers who want exit rights over the platform code rather than dependence on a single hosted vendornot NewsBlur

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

NewsBlur

  • The free account is limited to 64 sites
  • Search and text view extraction require Premium at $36 per year
  • Premium is capped at 1,024 sites and Premium Archive at 4,096 sites
  • Full content archiving and the Daily Briefing require Premium Archive at $99 per year
  • The fastest 5 to 15 minute feed refresh and regex training require Premium Pro at $29 per month
  • Site following is capped at 10,000 even on the top tier

Totara

  • You cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • Open source does not mean cheap. Subscription plus partner hosting plus implementation and version upgrade services commonly lands near commercial system cost, and the saving is in control and exit rights rather than in the invoice.
  • The administrative interface carries its Moodle lineage and is dense, so administrator training is a real project cost rather than an afterthought.
  • Major version upgrades are projects, especially where a partner has customised the deployment, and organisations that customise heavily find upgrades slower and dearer over time.
  • The learner facing experience is functional rather than engaging, and organisations wanting a consumer grade learning experience usually front it with something else.

Pricing, plan by plan

NewsBlur

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • Follow up to 64 sites
    • Real-time RSS updates
    • Train stories by author, tag, title
  • Premium$36/year
    • Follow up to 1024 sites
    • 5x more frequent updates
    • River of News, search, saved stories with tags
  • Premium Archive$99/year
    • Follow up to 4096 sites
    • Web feeds from any website
    • Story clustering, daily briefing, full archive and search
  • Premium Pro$29/month
    • All Archive features plus up to 10000 sites
    • Feeds fetched every 5 to 15 minutes
    • Regex training, priority support

Totara

On request
  • Totara subscription via partner$undefined/year
    • Sold only through distribution partners
    • Partner sets hosting, implementation and support pricing
    • Source available under the GPL, but subscription required for supported releases

Which should you pick?

Choose NewsBlur if

  • You need intelligence training.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want story sharing.
NewsBlur review

Choose Totara if

  • You need organisational hierarchies.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want compliance and certification.
Totara review

Questions people ask

Is NewsBlur or Totara better?
Neither clearly leads. NewsBlur starts at Free and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, NewsBlur or Totara?
NewsBlur has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for NewsBlur and On request for Totara.
Does NewsBlur or Totara run on more platforms?
NewsBlur runs on Web, Ios, Android. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
Can I use NewsBlur for free?
Yes. NewsBlur has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Totara starts at On request.
What is NewsBlur best used for?
NewsBlur is most often used for reading rss feeds with training that filters by author, tag or title, archiving full article content from followed sites, following a large number of feeds with fast refresh. Of those, reading rss feeds with training that filters by author, tag or title and archiving full article content from followed sites are not what Totara is typically brought in for.
What can NewsBlur do that Totara cannot?
NewsBlur covers Intelligence training, Story sharing, Original site view, Text view. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

NewsBlur: Is NewsBlur free?

NewsBlur offers a free tier allowing users to follow up to 64 RSS feeds with real-time updates, story training, and public sharing.

Source
Totara: Is Totara free because it is open source?

No. The source is available under the GPL, but supported releases require a subscription, and it is sold through partners who add hosting, implementation and support costs.

NewsBlur: What does Premium plan include?

Premium plan costs 36 dollars per year and includes following up to 1024 sites with 5x more frequent updates, River of News feature, search functionality, and saved stories with tags.

Source
Totara: How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is built around courses and academic delivery. Totara adds organisational hierarchies, role based automatic assignment, recurring certification and appraisal, which is what workplace compliance reporting needs.

NewsBlur: Is there a free trial?

Every new NewsBlur account starts with a free 30-day premium trial. No credit card is required to start.

Source
Totara: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Self hosting is a genuine option and is one of the main reasons regulated and public sector buyers choose it over a hosted only competitor.

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