Eight Android RSS readers compared on what actually changes your mornings: price, whether you need an account, offline reading, ads, and how each app treats your attention. Checked against public store listings, pricing pages, and documentation in October 2026, and every entry below links to the source it came from.
RSS readers are the quiet corner of the app store. Nobody advertises them, yet they decide what you read every day. This list covers eight Android readers that are actively maintained in 2026. No placement was paid for, and no star ratings are quoted, because store ratings measure popularity, not fit for your habits.
The best RSS readers for Android at a glance
| App | Price | Account | Offline | Source | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curated Feeds | Free forever | No | Full article cache | This site | No-account, privacy-first reading |
| Feedly | Free plan, paid Pro and Pro+ | Yes | Yes | Plans | Sync, boards, AI on paid tiers |
| Inoreader | Free to 150 feeds, then paid | Yes | Yes | Pricing | Rules and filters |
| NewsBlur | Free to 64 sites, then paid | Yes | Yes | Pricing | Training and social features |
| Feeder | Free, open source | No | Yes | F-Droid | Minimal F-Droid reading |
| FeedFlow | Free, open source | No | Offline reading | F-Droid | Lightweight offline reader |
| Readwise Reader | Free tier, paid | Yes | Yes | Product page | RSS plus read-it-later |
| The Old Reader | Free tier, paid | Yes | Limited on free | Homepage | Google Reader-style reading |
Prices and free-tier limits change often; each vendor's own page, linked in the Source column, is the authority. "Free plan" or "free tier" means usable but deliberately limited, which is not the same as free with no strings.
Best RSS reader for each need
- No account, no server, no ads: Curated Feeds, or Feeder if you want open source from F-Droid.
- One reading list on phone, tablet, and laptop: Feedly, Inoreader, or NewsBlur. Sync is exactly what an account buys you.
- Server-side rules that sort incoming articles: Inoreader on a paid plan.
- AI summaries and digest newsletters: Feedly Pro or Readwise Reader.
- Read-it-later combined with RSS: Readwise Reader.
- Maximum offline on a train or a plane: Curated Feeds, Feeder, or FeedFlow.
1. Curated Feeds: the no-account default
Curated Feeds is the app this site ships: free forever, no account, and everything stored on the device. You swipe through articles as cards, group sources into categories, and the full article cache works offline. There are no ads and no tracking, and version 1.2.0 installs directly from this site as an APK (about 67 MB, Android 8.0 and up) or from Uptodown, because it is deliberately not on the Play Store.
The honest trade-offs: it is Android-only, there is no multi-device sync, no desktop or web reader, and no full-text search across your whole archive, because all of those require a server. If your reading stays on one phone, none of that costs you anything. See the full comparison and the head-to-head pages against Feedly and Inoreader.
2. Feedly: the sync-everywhere standard
Feedly is the most widely used reader on this list: boards and collections, clean cross-platform sync across Android, iOS, and web, and paid tiers that add an AI layer, AI feeds, and the RSS Builder. The free plan is genuinely usable for a few dozen feeds but is limited by design, and the paid tiers lift those limits (see Feedly's plans and pricing page and their plan documentation). You need an account, and your reading history lives on Feedly's servers.
3. Inoreader: the power user's filter engine
Inoreader's differentiator is rules: server-side filters, folders, and automation that sort articles as they arrive, plus search across your archive. The free plan is capped at 150 feeds, and Pro starts at $7.50 a month billed annually, per Inoreader's pricing page. Like Feedly it is account-based and synced, on Android, iOS, and web.
4. NewsBlur: reading with a social layer
NewsBlur mixes RSS with sharing: you can follow other readers' blurblogs, and its training modes learn which stories you care about. The free plan follows up to 64 sites, and Premium starts at $36 a year, per NewsBlur's pricing page. Account-based and synced, on Android, iOS, and web, and open source if you would rather run it yourself.
5. Feeder: the minimal open-source pick
Feeder is a free, open-source reader distributed on F-Droid and the Play Store. No account, no ads, a straightforward article list with offline reading and a clean design. It deliberately skips sync and server features, which is exactly why it stays fast and private. A solid choice if you want something simpler than Feedly with none of the upsells.
6. FeedFlow: offline-first and lightweight
FeedFlow is another free, open-source reader, also on F-Droid, focused on offline reading and reader mode, with sync options only if you configure them yourself. It is the lightest app on this list and a good fit when storage and battery matter.
7. Readwise Reader: RSS meets read-it-later
Readwise Reader combines RSS with highlights, a read-it-later queue, and AI features on the paid plan. The free tier is limited. It is account-based and synced across devices, and it suits people who want one place for articles, newsletters, and things to read later rather than a pure feed list; see the product page for the current plan structure.
8. The Old Reader: the Google Reader revival
The Old Reader rebuilds the classic Google Reader experience: folders, sharing, and a familiar layout. It is account-based and synced, with Android and web clients, and its own site lists the current free and paid limits.
How to choose an RSS reader
Start with where your data lives, because that decision is hard to reverse. Account-based readers (Feedly, Inoreader, NewsBlur, Readwise, The Old Reader) give you sync and server-side features in exchange for storing your reading history on their servers. Device-local readers (Curated Feeds, Feeder, FeedFlow) keep everything on the phone and give you nothing to log into.
Second, look at the price model rather than the price. A limited free plan usually means a subsidy: someone pays for the server, and that someone is either you on a paid tier or an advertiser. "Free forever" with no server bill is a different promise, and it only holds where there is no server to fund. Third, test offline behavior on your actual commute. Fourth, confirm the platform list matches the devices you actually read on.
Then try two or three readers with the same feeds for one week. The real differences show up in daily use, not in feature lists. The starter feed list is a good test set.
What this list deliberately leaves out
Self-hosted options like FreshRSS and Miniflux are excellent if you run a server, but they are not Android apps you install and open, so they are out of scope here. NetNewsWire is a strong open-source reader but Apple-only. And app-store ratings were left out on purpose: a 4.8 with 200k reviews tells you a product is popular, not that it fits the way you read.
Switching readers without losing your feeds
Every reader on this list can export your subscriptions as an OPML file, and every reader can add a feed by pasting its URL. To switch: export the OPML from your current reader, open it in a text editor, and copy each xmlUrl value, or add feeds one by one from the original app's share sheet. In Curated Feeds there is no directory approval step: paste any URL that parses as RSS 2.0, Atom, or RDF and it is added. See how to find the feed URL of any website if a source does not advertise its feed.
Questions
Is a "free" RSS reader really free?
Often only a free tier. Feedly, Inoreader, NewsBlur, Readwise Reader, and The Old Reader all limit the free plan and show ads on it. Curated Feeds, Feeder, and FeedFlow are free in the stronger sense: there is no server infrastructure to fund, so there is no premium tier and no ads.
Do I need an account to read RSS?
No. RSS is a pull technology: the reader fetches the feed from the publisher. Accounts exist to enable sync and server-side features. Curated Feeds, Feeder, and FeedFlow skip the account entirely and store everything on your device.
Which of these readers work fully offline?
Curated Feeds caches full articles for offline reading, and Feeder and FeedFlow both support offline reading. The hosted readers offer offline reading on paid plans or in limited form, so check current plan details before relying on it for travel.
Can I move my feeds from Feedly or Inoreader to another app?
Yes. Export your OPML from the old reader and paste the feed URLs into the new one; see the switching section above. For the specifics of leaving Feedly or Inoreader, see Curated Feeds vs Feedly and Curated Feeds vs Inoreader.
Try Curated Feeds
If the comparison points anywhere for a phone-only, no-account setup, it is here: version 1.2.0, about 67 MB, Android 8.0 and up, free forever with no ads. Download the APK directly from this site or find it on Uptodown, add a few feeds from the starter list, and see how reading feels when nothing is synced, tracked, or sold.