Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Fraidycat VS The Old Reader

Compare Fraidycat VS The Old Reader and see what are their differences

Fraidycat logo Fraidycat

A desktop app or browser extension for Firefox or Chrome. You can use it to follow people (hundreds) on whatever platform they choose - Twitter, a blog, YouTube, even on a public TiddlyWiki

The Old Reader logo The Old Reader

Read all your favorite online content in one place. Import your subscriptions in one click, find your friends, and start sharing.
  • Fraidycat Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-11
  • The Old Reader Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-28

Fraidycat features and specs

  • Simplified Subscription Management
    Fraidycat provides an easy way to manage various content streams from different platforms in a single interface, eliminating the need to check multiple apps or websites.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    It works as a browser extension across major browsers, ensuring users can access it on any system that supports these browsers.
  • Minimalistic Design
    The interface is clean and minimalistic, helping users focus on content rather than getting distracted by excessive UI elements.
  • Categorization
    Allows users to categorize feeds by priority or interest, helping them to quickly access important updates.
  • Privacy-Conscious
    Fraidycat operates on the client-side without storing user data on external servers, thus ensuring greater privacy.

Possible disadvantages of Fraidycat

  • Limited Interaction
    Fraidycat only supports reading and does not allow interaction with content, such as liking or commenting, which can limit user engagement.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might find the unique approach to feed management and the interface slightly confusing at first, requiring some adjustment.
  • Feature Limitations
    While it covers many basic needs, it lacks some advanced features found in other feed aggregators like filters or keyword alerts.
  • Dependency on Browser
    As a browser extension, its functionality is limited to supported browsers, and it may not work as seamlessly in alternative web environments.
  • Manual Updates
    Users may need to manually refresh or check updates for some feeds, as it doesn’t always automatically refresh in real-time.

The Old Reader features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    The Old Reader offers an intuitive and clean interface that makes it easy for users to navigate through their feeds and articles.
  • Social Features
    The service includes social features allowing users to follow friends, share articles, and see what others are reading.
  • Compatibility
    The Old Reader is compatible with various platforms and provides seamless synchronization between desktop and mobile devices.
  • Import/Export OPML
    Users can easily import or export their feeds using OPML files, making switching to and from other feed readers convenient.
  • Free Plan
    The Old Reader offers a free plan that is suitable for casual readers, although it comes with some limitations compared to the premium plan.

Possible disadvantages of The Old Reader

  • Limited Free Plan
    The free version has restrictions, such as a limit on the number of feeds you can subscribe to and the frequency of updates.
  • Ads in Free Plan
    Users on the free plan are subject to advertisements, which might be distracting for some.
  • No Mobile App
    The Old Reader does not have an official mobile application, although the web interface is mobile-friendly.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report occasional performance issues, such as slow loading times, especially with a large number of feeds.
  • Premium Cost
    The premium plan, although feature-rich, comes with a cost that may be considered high by some users compared to other similar services.

Fraidycat videos

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The Old Reader videos

How to use The Old Reader

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Fraidycat and The Old Reader)
RSS Reader
28 28%
72% 72
RSS
18 18%
82% 82
RSS Client
51 51%
49% 49
Insight Management
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Fraidycat and The Old Reader

Fraidycat Reviews

  1. Stan
    · Founder at SaaSHub ·
    A great way to follow RSS

    I was looking for something like this for quite some time. I've been using Fraidycat for about 2 months now. It's very simple and easy to use. I love the you can organize your feeds by simple "emoji" tags. Also, the idea of setting an importance/frequency level per feed is great.

    If only more websites had RSS feeds...

    🏁 Competitors: Feedly, The Old Reader
    👍 Pros:    Simple|Unique

The Old Reader Reviews

19 Best Feedly Alternatives To Track Insights Across The Web
The Old Reader The Old Reader is an RSS reader that is designed to be simple and easy to use. It offers a minimalist interface, and allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds and import your subscriptions from other readers. Web
17 Best RSS Feed Reader And News Aggregation Apps
If you’re tired of using RSS apps in isolation and want to share content with your friends, then The Old Reader is the app for you.
Best Feedly Alternatives to always Keep in Handy!
If you and your friends all like reading the same types of content, The Old Reader is an easy way to share your recommendations with each other. Following people on The Old Reader is again a great medium to find new blogs, news sites, and content channels to follow.
Source: blog.elink.io
Top 6 Free Online RSS Readers
The Old Reader is another great reader that has a slick and minimal look. It's free to use for up to 100 RSS feeds, and if you decide to connect your Facebook or Google account, you can see if any of your friends are using it too so you can follow them.
The 10 Best Free RSS Reader Apps
This is a great way to discover new blogs, sites, and channels to follow—as well as share your favorites with your friends. And even if you don't have any friends using The Old Reader to connect with, you can check out the content in its "Trending" tab to see a list of the pieces that have received the most recent likes from other people who use The Old Reader.
Source: zapier.com

Social recommendations and mentions

The Old Reader might be a bit more popular than Fraidycat. We know about 37 links to it since March 2021 and only 30 links to Fraidycat. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Fraidycat mentions (30)

  • Reading RSS content is a skilled activity
    There are a couple readers that avoid that by providing a calmer experience without a firehose and without background fetching. https://blogcat.org (I made this one) https://fraidyc.at (this is the inspiration for many calm readers) https://cblgh.itch.io/rad-reader (multiplatform and super calm). - Source: Hacker News / 4 days ago
  • Show HN: Artemis, a Calm Web Reader
    For reference, and not implying it's better or worse than your work OP, I've pleasantly used Fraidycat (https://fraidyc.at/) in the past. It's a webextension, so completely local, and also incorporates the idea of having a "calmer" experience: no infinite list of links to check, different update rates, ... I love your philosophy page, OP ! (https://jamesg.blog/2024/11/30/designing-a-calm-web-reader/). - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Did rachelbythebay.com block my IP address because of my feed reader?
    I'm using Fraidycat (https://fraidyc.at/) which I enjoy a lot, but given her recent crusade against feed readers, I suspect that that's the reason that my IP address got blocked or so. (At least, that's what my ISP is leading me to believe because there is no issue on their end). Anyone else out there on the blacklist? - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • MeTube: Self-Hosted YouTube Downloader
    There's the fraidycat extension that I use to do exactly that: https://fraidyc.at/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Google helped destroy adoption of RSS feeds
    I went years without consuming RSS until I discovered Fraidy Cat[1] here at Hacker News. 1. https://fraidyc.at. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
View more

The Old Reader mentions (37)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Fraidycat and The Old Reader, you can also consider the following products

Miniflux - Miniflux is a minimalist web-based RSS reader. It's very easy to use.

Feedly - The content you need to accelerate your research, marketing, and sales.

Inoreader - Dive into your favorite content. The content reader for power users who want to save time.

1Feed - 1Feed is your quiet place on the internet, where you can focus on the people and content you care about.

NewsBlur - NewsBlur is a personal news reader that brings people together to talk about the world.

Lenns.io - The feed reader for people that want to be in control