Reedervs
NetNewsWire
NetNewsWire: If you want a free, open source, RSS-only reader with no subscription and no social feed integration
Reeder
Subscription RSS and social feed reader for Apple platforms, with a separate one-time Classic version
As of 1 September 2026, Reeder has a free plan and paid plans start at $10/year. An RSS reader that now also pulls in YouTube, Reddit and Mastodon alongside traditional feeds, sold as a low cost monthly or yearly subscription called Reeder Plus for unlimited feeds. Softwr lists it under News. Reeder is made by Silvio Rizzi, available on Mac, iOS.
Overview
What Reeder does
Reeder aggregates RSS and Atom feeds alongside YouTube channels, Reddit communities and Mastodon timelines into one reading interface across iPhone, iPad and Mac, with a free tier capped at ten feeds and gesture-based reading and triage. The distinguishing fact is that developer Silvio Rizzi now ships two separate apps rather than one. The new Reeder uses a subscription, Reeder Plus, priced low at around 1 US dollar a month or 10 dollars a year, which removes the ten feed limit and unlocks shared feeds and social timelines. Reeder Classic, the earlier rewrite, remains available separately as a one-time purchase with no subscription, for users who specifically want to avoid recurring costs. NetNewsWire, by contrast, is entirely free and open source, so a user choosing between the two is really choosing between Reeder broader social feed integration and paid model against NetNewsWire pure RSS focus and zero cost. Buyers are people who read news, YouTube channels and social timelines from one triage-focused app across their Apple devices and are comfortable with a low, non-intrusive subscription. The trade-off is that the free tier ten feed cap is genuinely limiting for a serious RSS user, and having two differently priced apps under the same name has confused some long time users deciding which one to buy.
What people use it for
- A reader who wants YouTube, Reddit and Mastodon alongside RSS feeds in one triage-focused app
- Someone with more than ten feeds who is comfortable with a low cost subscription rather than a hard cap
- A long time Reeder user who prefers the older interface and wants to avoid a subscription by using Reeder Classic instead
- A user who wants shared curated feed lists with friends or colleagues, a Plus-only feature
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Reeder.
- The free tier caps at ten feeds, which is restrictive for anyone following more than a handful of sources.
- Having two separately named and priced apps, Reeder and Reeder Classic, has confused users trying to work out which one to buy.
- It depends on continued access to YouTube, Reddit and Mastodon APIs for its social feed features, any of which could change terms and reduce functionality.
- It is Apple platforms only, with no Windows, Android or web version.
- The subscription, while cheap, is still an ongoing cost compared with NetNewsWire, which does the core RSS job for free indefinitely.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Reeder
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- ReedervsMimestream
Mimestream: If your reading need is really email triage rather than RSS and social feeds
Pricing
What Reeder costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Reeder (free)
Free
- Up to 10 feeds
- Core reading and triage features
Reeder Plus
$1 /mo
- Unlimited feeds
- Shared feeds
- Social timelines from Reddit and Mastodon
Reeder Classic
Free
- Separate app, one-time purchase pricing
- No subscription required
- Traditional RSS-focused feature set
Capabilities
Features
Multi-source feeds
Combines RSS, YouTube channels, Reddit and Mastodon in one reading interface
Gesture-based triage
Swipe gestures to mark read, save or share articles quickly
Shared feeds
Share a curated feed list with others under the Plus subscription
Cross-device sync
Reading position and saved articles synced across iPhone, iPad and Mac
Reeder Classic option
A separate one-time purchase app for users who want no subscription
Custom themes
Adjustable reading layouts and appearance settings
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is Reeder free?
A free tier exists capped at ten feeds; unlimited feeds and social timelines require the Reeder Plus subscription.
What is Reeder Classic?
A separate, older Reeder app kept available as a one-time purchase for users who do not want the new subscription model.
Does Reeder support YouTube and Reddit, not just RSS?
Yes, the current version combines RSS with YouTube channels, Reddit communities and Mastodon timelines in one app.
Keep looking
Where to go from Reeder
- Reeder alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Reeder pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Reeder badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All News softwareThe full category
- Best News softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
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Compare Reeder with
- NetNewsWire
- Arc Publishing
- Mailbrew
- Apple News
- Feedbin
- Readwise Reader
- The Old Reader
- Feedly
- Inoreader
- Chartbeat
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- CrowdTangle
- Agility PR Solutions
- Artifact
- Brightspot
- NetNewsWire
- Arc Publishing
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Reeder, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
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Free open source RSS reader for Mac and iOS, with no subscription, no ads and no feed limit
Open source, no licence fee
The easiest way to start and grow your newsletter
