NewsBlur
Self-host a feed reader with training filters, folders, and full-text search
The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For NewsBlur, self-host a feed reader with training filters, folders, and full-text search. The hard boundary is hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features, plus capture polish, sync, and content partnerships.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features
- publisher bypasses
- cross-device mobile capture
- high-quality recommendation graph
- licensed full-text feeds
Why people still pay
People still pay for NewsBlur because people pay when capture works everywhere, reading state syncs instantly, and the archive remains clean without constant parser repairs. The recurring cost buys feed quirks, parsing, paywalls, canonical URLs, deduplication, images, search, sync, browser extensions, and publisher changes, not just the visible interface.
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 Subscription, Item, TrainingRule and MatchExplanation; training preferences are reversible and hidden articles remain reachable through an unfiltered view.
Project rule — scope and recovery: Keep simple rules distinct from an opaque recommendation model. Start without social sharing or hosted availability guarantees; preserve OPML and article-state exports.
Project rule — acceptance: Train a disliked phrase then discover it inside a useful article; reveal the exact matching rule, override it and recover the article without re-fetching the feed.
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: Read a personal feed collection, train transparent preferences for authors/tags/phrases and inspect why an article is emphasized or hidden. 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 Subscription, Item, TrainingRule and MatchExplanation; training preferences are reversible and hidden articles remain reachable through an unfiltered view.
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: Keep simple rules distinct from an opaque recommendation model. Start without social sharing or hosted availability guarantees; preserve OPML and article-state exports.
Phase 5
Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Train a disliked phrase then discover it inside a useful article; reveal the exact matching rule, override it and recover the article without re-fetching the feed. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.
Build the following focused alternative to NewsBlur. Implement the focused workflow below first; the verdict is not evidence of a completed or production-certified build. WORKING SLICE Read a personal feed collection, train transparent preferences for authors/tags/phrases and inspect why an article is emphasized or hidden. 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 Subscription, Item, TrainingRule and MatchExplanation; training preferences are reversible and hidden articles remain reachable through an unfiltered view. 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 Keep simple rules distinct from an opaque recommendation model. Start without social sharing or hosted availability guarantees; preserve OPML and article-state exports. ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO Train a disliked phrase then discover it inside a useful article; reveal the exact matching rule, override it and recover the article without re-fetching the feed. 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 · generated from this app's build plan
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Alternatives to building your own
all 3 free alternatives to NewsBlur →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
NewsBlur pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/user | $0/user | Up to 64 sites; real-time RSS, training filters and saved stories. |
| premium | — | $3/user | Up to 1,024 sites.Annual-only: $36/year. |
| premium archive | — | $8.25/user | Up to 4,096 sites; searchable archive retained indefinitely; AI and briefing features.Annual-only: $99/year. |
| premium pro | $29/user | — | Up to 10,000 sites; 5–15 minute feed fetching; regular-expression tools.Monthly-only. |
free tier64 sites
billingPremium and Premium Archive are annual-only; Premium Pro is monthly-only; 30-day Premium trial with no card
hidden costsupgrades are prorated; on downgrade, feeds above the lower plan limit are muted; self-hosting uses open-source software but requires separately paid infrastructure
pricing sources checked 2026-08-13 · pricing source ↗
Questions about NewsBlur
Can you build your own NewsBlur with AI?
The verdict is yes for the scoped workflow. The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For NewsBlur, self-host a feed reader with training filters, folders, and full-text search. The hard boundary is hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features, plus capture polish, sync, and content partnerships.
What does the NewsBlur build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Read a personal feed collection, train transparent preferences for authors/tags/phrases and inspect why an article is emphasized or hidden. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features; publisher bypasses; cross-device mobile capture. 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 NewsBlur 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 NewsBlur 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 NewsBlur?
hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features; publisher bypasses; cross-device mobile capture; high-quality recommendation graph; licensed full-text feeds. People still pay for NewsBlur because people pay when capture works everywhere, reading state syncs instantly, and the archive remains clean without constant parser repairs. The recurring cost buys feed quirks, parsing, paywalls, canonical URLs, deduplication, images, search, sync, browser extensions, and publisher changes, not just the visible interface.
What price is this guide comparing against?
The recorded Premium plan is $3/mo (annual-equivalent), checked 2026-07-31. 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 NewsBlur?
FreshRSS: A proper feed reader with no product manager deciding which feature becomes premium. Miniflux: A fast feed reader for people who think settings pages are a moral failure. NewsBlur: NewsBlur without the subscription, plus Postgres, MongoDB, Redis and a new hobby. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/newsblur-premium/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.