Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

NewsBlur VS Mastodon

Compare NewsBlur VS Mastodon and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

NewsBlur logo NewsBlur

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

Mastodon logo Mastodon

Mastodon is a decentralized, open source social network. This is just one part of the network, run by the main developers of the project It is not focused on any particular niche interest - everyone is welcome!
  • NewsBlur Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • Mastodon Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-20

NewsBlur features and specs

  • Personalized Reading
    NewsBlur allows you to train its system on what stories you like and dislike, providing you with a more personalized news reading experience.
  • Offline Access
    The mobile apps support offline reading, which is useful for users who want to catch up on news without an internet connection.
  • Story Sharing
    It offers social features, enabling users to share interesting stories and comment within their circle or the public.
  • Third-Party Integration
    NewsBlur supports integration with other apps and services via APIs, enhancing its functionality and convenience.
  • Open Source
    The platform is open-source, which can attract developers who want to contribute to its improvement or customize it for their own needs.

Possible disadvantages of NewsBlur

  • Subscription Cost
    While NewsBlur offers a free tier, its advanced features and better performance require a paid subscription, which may not be appealing to everyone.
  • Complex Interface
    The user interface can be overwhelming for new users due to its numerous features and customization options.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its rich set of features, there can be a steep learning curve for those unfamiliar with RSS readers or similar platforms.
  • Limited Free Account
    Free accounts are limited to a small number of feeds and some features are restricted, pushing users towards the paid tier for a fuller experience.
  • Occasional Performance Issues
    Users have reported occasional performance issues, especially with large numbers of feeds, affecting the overall experience.

Mastodon features and specs

  • Decentralization
    Mastodon is based on a federated network, meaning it's composed of multiple servers (or instances) that communicate with each other. This reduces the risk of a single point of failure and offers more control over data.
  • User Control
    Users can choose from various instances with different rules and themes, offering more control over the kind of community they want to be part of.
  • Ad-Free
    Mastodon does not rely on advertising for revenue, which means users can enjoy a social media experience without intrusive ads.
  • Open Source
    Mastodon is open-source software, allowing for greater transparency and the opportunity for the community to contribute to its development.
  • Privacy Features
    Mastodon offers comprehensive privacy features, including granular post visibility options and the ability to block and report users.

Possible disadvantages of Mastodon

  • User Base Fragmentation
    Because Mastodon is decentralized, users are spread out over many instances, leading to smaller, fragmented communities that might reduce the reach and variety of interactions.
  • Complexity
    New users might find the federated nature of Mastodon confusing, as they need to choose an instance and understand how different instances interact.
  • Scalability Issues
    Some instances may experience performance issues or downtime, especially smaller ones with limited resources, affecting reliability.
  • Content Moderation
    Each instance sets its own moderation policies, which could lead to inconsistencies in how harassment, spam, and inappropriate content are handled.
  • Feature Parity
    Mastodon might lack some features available on more mainstream social networks, such as advanced search capabilities or integrated multimedia tools.

NewsBlur videos

Newsblur - an online open-source RSS reader

More videos:

  • Review - Anleitung zum RSS-Feed-Reader Newsblur
  • Tutorial - Newsblur and RSS: A Quick Tutorial

Mastodon videos

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand ALBUM REVIEW

More videos:

  • Review - MASTODON Emperor of Sand Album Review | Overkill Reviews
  • Review - A Closer Look at Mastodon, The Twitter Killer!
  • Review - Mastodon App: The Social Media Alternative to Twitter? | Tech News Briefing Podcast | WSJ
  • Review - 5 Reasons to DITCH TWITTER For Mastodon!
  • Review - No, Mastodon Will Not Replace Twitter

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to NewsBlur and Mastodon)
RSS
100 100%
0% 0
Social Networks
0 0%
100% 100
RSS Reader
100 100%
0% 0
Decentralized Social Network

User comments

Share your experience with using NewsBlur and Mastodon. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare NewsBlur and Mastodon

NewsBlur Reviews

19 Best Feedly Alternatives To Track Insights Across The Web
NewsBlur NewsBlur is a web-based RSS reader that provides a simple and fast way to keep up with your favorite websites. It offers features such as filtering, text-to-speech, and the ability to share stories on social media. Web, iOS, Android
17 Best RSS Feed Reader And News Aggregation Apps
NewsBlur also has intelligent content filters that you can use to scrutinize the content in your feed. These content discovery filters can actually learn the pattern of your searches and you can teach them too. This way you can see customized stories. Even if a source is publishing articles in bulk, it will show you only those of your interest.
The Best RSS Feed Readers for Streamlining the Internet
One thing that sets Newsblur apart is that it's open source. You can see the code on Github, and if you're comfortable with the command line you can even set up your own self-hosted version of Newsblur on your own server.
Source: www.wired.com
Hello, RSS
I looked at what RSS readers were popular by checking out my website analytics. I’ve always seen Feedly and Newsblur in there as referrers, but have also started to see Inoreader as well. Feedly has a robust offering, and it was a product I used a bit many years ago. It has a higher price point than some other services but in the end I just didn’t like the design. It felt...
Top 6 Free Online RSS Readers
NewsBlur is another popular RSS reader that aims to bring your articles from your favorite sites while maintaining the style of the original site. Easily organize your stories with categories and tags, hide stories you don't like and highlight stories you do like. You can also take a look at some of the third-party apps NewsBlur can be integrated with for even more versatility.

Mastodon Reviews

  1. Coralie Davis
    Account Suspension Without any Proper Reason

    The social networking sites that will ban your account without mentioning any reason.

    👍 Pros:    Worst support

Top 12 Alternative Social Media Platform to Consider: An Overview
Imagine a Twitter fuelled by independent communities, not a tech giant. That's Mastodon. It's not one platform, but a network of servers, each with its own vibe, from artists and journalists to cat lovers and techies. You choose your server, connect across them, and post "toots" with longer text, images, and videos. Think open-source Twitter with more freedom and...
The 10 Best Twitter Alternatives if You’re Thinking of Quitting X
However, the segmented nature of its network means it can take time to find and build your niche, and it won’t have the immediate, global reach of Twitter. Regarding features, Mastodon mirrors Twitter with timelines and @mentions, but it’s ad-free.
4 Twitter alternatives for brands considering leaving Twitter in 2024
You won't find an algorithm on Mastodon. Instead, it shows users posts that the people they follow repost or comment on. This dynamic means it's really important to engage with your community and build organic reach.
Source: zapier.com
15 Best Reddit Alternatives in 2024: Find Your New Online Community
The best overall alternative depends on your specific needs. Discord offers versatile communication options, while Mastodon provides a decentralized approach. For a more Reddit-like experience, Lemmy or Voat might be suitable choices.
10+ Top Facebook Alternatives That Value Your Privacy in 2024
It is ad-free and the system does not track you or collect your data. Only servers that agree to the “Mastodon Server Covenant” (a commitment to integrity) are listed on the main site.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Mastodon seems to be a lot more popular than NewsBlur. While we know about 722 links to Mastodon, we've tracked only 21 mentions of NewsBlur. 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.

NewsBlur mentions (21)

  • Apple courier may have stolen 2 MacBooks, () Apple is not going to help
    As someone who has been on and off the Degoogle train (I ran full LineageOS without Google Play at one point) and is now pretty deep in iOS territory, I'd say the main thing for me has been email. I've used https://www.fastmail.com for a great deal of years now, which is also home to my calendar as well so there's nothing much of value tied to my Google account. YouTube subscriptions would be annoying to lose but... - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • After more than 20 years, I published my first dirty project
    I also use it for its Popular Bookmarks - I subscribed to its RSS feed in NewsBlur and always have something interesting to read when my other feeds are Empty (they rarely are). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Killed by Google
    There's a bunch of replacements. I like https://newsblur.com but there are 4-6 large-ish similar sites. That said, partially what people miss is the relative cultural hegemony of Google Reader. It was RSS front-and-center, prominently featured on websites, supported by the biggest company in tech, with all the users there and able to take advantage of the (sparse) social features. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Alternatives to Reddit
    Https://newsblur.com/ I think this might be pretty close to what you're looking for. It's an RSS feed reader with a platform for discussions. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • With Reddit sunsetting, I'm looking back to RSS. What are the best current tools?
    Currently I'm on Newsblur. But it's really convoluted to Self host - to my "shame" I use their cloud hosted app with premium. It's (over)laden with features that I actually use and cheaper than for example Feedly. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Mastodon mentions (722)

  • How to vibe code for free: Running Qwen3 on your Mac, using MLX
    Coincidentally, I just managed to get Qwen3 to go into a loop by using a fairly simple prompt: "create a python decorator that uses a trie to do mqtt topic routing” phi4-reasoning works, but I think the code is buggy phi4-mini-reasoning freaks out qwen3:30b starts looping and forgets about the decorator mistral-small gets straight to the point and the code seems sane... - Source: Hacker News / 1 day ago
  • Someone at YouTube Needs Glasses
    I wish PeerTube had a "flagship" instance like mastodon.social [0] for Mastodon or lemmy.world [1] for Lemmy. The lack of a generalist instance with open sign-ups hinders the adoption. [0] https://mastodon.social/ [1] https://lemmy.world/. - Source: Hacker News / 2 days ago
  • Try Switching to Kagi
    In comments on Mastodon he also finds a way to twist this into an anti-EU rant: https://mastodon.social/@gruber/114418346006131728. - Source: Hacker News / 4 days ago
  • Ask HN: What are you working on? (April 2025)
    For awhile I've been working on an MPE MIDI controller called the Mosaichord. It uses a tuning system called just intonation, where the frequencies of all the notes are related to each other by whole number ratios. I'm using a scale that has 28 notes per octave. Keys are pressure sensitive. A few weeks ago I got a video of one of my friends playing it at a show: https://mastodon.social/@DesiderataSystems... - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • Exercise before bed is linked with disrupted sleep
    According to this book foxes are light weight because they jump to capture prey https://mastodon.social/@UP8/114389122128299887 So far as my fox is concerned [1] I know it puts a lot of stress on my hindquarters (wants to be pronograde?) and to express itself wants to use a range of postures and motion wider than I find comfortable. [1] https://yokai.com/kitsunetsuki/. - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing NewsBlur and Mastodon, you can also consider the following products

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

X (Twitter) - Connect with your friends and other fascinating people. Get in-the-moment updates on the things that interest you. And watch events unfold, in real time, from every angle.

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

Facebook - Connect with friends, family and other people you know. Share photos and videos, send messages and get updates.

Tiny Tiny RSS - Web-based news feed aggregator, designed to allow you to read news from any location, while feeling...

Gab.ai - Gab is an ad-free social network dedicated to free speech.