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.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- mobile apps
- feed discovery
- integrations
- Leo/AI filtering
- uptime
- polished reading UX
Why people still pay
They pay to avoid maintaining hundreds of feeds and reader apps across devices.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- Runtime and tools: Python, a bounded HTTP worker, feedparser, SQLite FTS5 and a small local web reader.
- Before starting: A reviewed list of permitted RSS/Atom feeds and OPML examples; a running worker is required for scheduled refresh.
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Project rule — domain: Store Feed, Item, FolderMembership, TopicRule and SavedSearch; user read/star decisions are independent of regenerated labels and duplicate stories retain their original feed attribution.
Project rule — scope and recovery: Optional summaries operate only on available article text and retain links. Start with transparent keyword rules rather than claiming proprietary threat intelligence or comprehensive news coverage.
Project rule — acceptance: Publish the same story in two feeds, star it and change a topic rule; show the duplicate relationship without silently deleting an attribution or clearing the star.
Project rule — delivery: document real setup commands and permissions; do not claim a build, accuracy level, performance result or security certification that has not been demonstrated.
Recommended skill: modern-python — structure the Python worker or explicitly optional read-only utility with pinned dependencies, typed boundaries and clear failure handling. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Recommended skill: web-design-guidelines — review keyboard access, focus, validation, error recovery and the readable work/review interface or HTML report. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Pin the working slice and create its example input: Organize feeds by topic, provide compact and expanded reading modes and add user-reviewed topic labels with saved searches. Confirm setup: A reviewed list of permitted RSS/Atom feeds and OPML examples; a running worker is required for scheduled refresh.
Phase 2
Implement persistence and write-time invariants before decorating the UI: Store Feed, Item, FolderMembership, TopicRule and SavedSearch; user read/star decisions are independent of regenerated labels and duplicate stories retain their original feed attribution.
Phase 3
Connect the working view to real saved state. Preserve feed GUIDs with a canonical URL fallback. Use conditional requests, per-host backoff and separate fetch errors from empty feeds; sanitize article HTML and prevent private-network URL fetches.
Phase 4
Expose the app-specific limits and recovery path in context: Optional summaries operate only on available article text and retain links. Start with transparent keyword rules rather than claiming proprietary threat intelligence or comprehensive news coverage.
Phase 5
Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Publish the same story in two feeds, star it and change a topic rule; show the duplicate relationship without silently deleting an attribution or clearing the star. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.
Build the following focused alternative to Feedly. Implement the focused workflow below first; the verdict is not evidence of a completed or production-certified build. WORKING SLICE Organize feeds by topic, provide compact and expanded reading modes and add user-reviewed topic labels with saved searches. SETUP AND ARCHITECTURE Use Python, a bounded HTTP worker, feedparser, SQLite FTS5 and a small local web reader. Prerequisites: A reviewed list of permitted RSS/Atom feeds and OPML examples; a running worker is required for scheduled refresh. Before integrating anything, record actual versions and permissions, plus model files or provider limits only where used, in the README; make unavailable dependencies visible rather than simulating success. DOMAIN MODEL AND INVARIANTS Store Feed, Item, FolderMembership, TopicRule and SavedSearch; user read/star decisions are independent of regenerated labels and duplicate stories retain their original feed attribution. IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT Preserve feed GUIDs with a canonical URL fallback. Use conditional requests, per-host backoff and separate fetch errors from empty feeds; sanitize article HTML and prevent private-network URL fetches. Provide an input/setup view, the main work view, and a review/export view appropriate to this workflow. Preserve the last saved state if a job or save fails. Include empty, loading, permission-denied, partial and retryable-error states. Log identifiers and error categories without secret values or unnecessary private content. APP-SPECIFIC BOUNDARY AND RECOVERY Optional summaries operate only on available article text and retain links. Start with transparent keyword rules rather than claiming proprietary threat intelligence or comprehensive news coverage. ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO Publish the same story in two feeds, star it and change a topic rule; show the duplicate relationship without silently deleting an attribution or clearing the star. Also reopen the app after an interrupted operation, confirm the saved record/export remains inspectable, and document the recovery action. These are implementation acceptance requirements, not a claim that this guide has been tested. DELIVERY Deliver a runnable repository with migrations or project-format versioning, a non-sensitive example, environment/permission setup, the exact manual acceptance steps, and a backup/export-and-restore walkthrough. Implement the working slice before optional integrations; list any deferred paid-product capabilities honestly. Do not add capabilities outside the working slice just to resemble the original product. PROJECT RULES FOR AGENTS.md Keep the domain invariants above executable at the write boundary. Propose scope changes before adding providers or permissions. Never fabricate source evidence, publish results, identity matches or successful delivery. Preserve user originals and require an explicit confirmation for destructive changes or external publication.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md
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Alternatives to building your own
no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
Feedly pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| basic | $0/user | $0/user | Up to 100 sources; 3 Feeds; 3 Boards. |
| pro | $7/user | $5.42/user | Faster feed polling, search and integrations; annual total is $65. |
| pro+ | — | — | AI Feeds, RSS Builder and Zapier; feed polling can be as frequent as 7 minutes.Annual-only, but the current exact public price was not exposed. |
| enterprise | — | — | Team feeds, administration and intelligence tools; numeric seat limits and price are quote-based.Contact sales. |
free tier100 sources; 3 Feeds; 3 Boards
billingPro offers monthly + annual; Pro+ is annual-only; Enterprise is quote-based
hidden costsself-service refunds are limited to 5 days after a charge; Enterprise cost scales by seats and selected intelligence features
pricing sources checked 2026-08-13 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Feedly
Can you build your own Feedly with AI?
The verdict is yes for the scoped workflow. Core RSS reading, folders, search, and saved articles are very buildable; Feedly's paid moat is polished feed discovery, mobile, AI features, and reliability.
What does the Feedly build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Organize feeds by topic, provide compact and expanded reading modes and add user-reviewed topic labels with saved searches. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: mobile apps; feed discovery; integrations. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Feedly prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Feedly project take?
The catalogue estimate is one sitting for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Feedly?
mobile apps; feed discovery; integrations; Leo/AI filtering; uptime; polished reading UX. They pay to avoid maintaining hundreds of feeds and reader apps across devices.
What price is this guide comparing against?
The recorded Pro plan is $7/mo (monthly), checked 2026-07-30. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.
What can I use instead of building Feedly?
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. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.