Disclosure: Hushread is my app. I’ve tried to be fair, and I say where the others are the better choice.
The best RSS reader for Mac is NetNewsWire for most people: it is free, open source, and its site lists sync through iCloud and seven outside services. The catch is that the current version needs macOS 15 or newer.
If your Mac is older, or you want something NetNewsWire does not do, the pick changes: Reeder Classic, lire and ReadKit run on macOS 12, Vienna goes back to macOS 10.13, and the new Reeder is for people who want feeds, video and podcasts in one timeline.
Nine Mac RSS readers, checked on 14 October 2026
I opened each app’s own site or US Mac App Store listing on 14 October 2026, and the versions and requirements below are from those pages. Prices are from the US Mac App Store, in US dollars, except NewsBlur’s, which is from its own pricing page. “Needs” is the macOS version the listing or the developer’s site requires.
| App | Price | Needs | Latest version | Sync |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetNewsWire | Free | macOS 15 | 7.1.5, Sep 29 | iCloud or 7 services |
| Reeder | Free for 10 feeds, then $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year | macOS 14 | 2026.10, Oct 2 | iCloud only |
| Reeder Classic | $9.99 once | macOS 12 | 5.6, Sep 25 | iCloud or 8 feed services |
| lire | $9.99 once | macOS 12 | 4.0.1, Sep 17 | Feedly, Feedbin, Inoreader, Miniflux and others |
| ReadKit | Free for 20 feeds, Premium from $9.99 a year | macOS 12 | 3.4.5, Jun 25 | 10 feed services |
| Unread | Free, optional $29.99 a year | macOS 15 | 5.1, October | Unread Cloud or 10 services |
| News Explorer | $9.99 once | macOS 15.6 | 2.2.12, Sep 21 | iCloud |
| Vienna | Free | macOS 10.13 | 3.10.8, Jul 19 | Open Reader API services |
| NewsBlur | Free for 64 sites, Premium $36 a year | macOS 26 | 15.0.0, Sep 22 | NewsBlur account |
Every app in the table shipped an update in 2026, so none of them is abandoned. If an older review sent you looking for “Reeder 5”, it is now sold as Reeder Classic, and a different app called Reeder is a subscription.
NetNewsWire: the free pick, if your Mac runs macOS 15
NetNewsWire’s site calls it “a free and open source RSS reader for Mac, iPhone, and iPad”. There is no paid tier and no feed limit on the page. You download the Mac app from the site itself, and the line under the download link reads “macOS 15 and newer”.
NetNewsWire’s download section, 14 October 2026. Source: netnewswire.com
The feature list on the same page is the reason it wins for most people: a Safari extension for adding feeds, a reader view, single-key keyboard shortcuts, OPML import and export, search, multiple accounts, and three things only the Mac version has, which are a customizable toolbar, multiple windows and AppleScript support. Sync is “via iCloud, Feedbin, Feedly, BazQux, Inoreader, NewsBlur, The Old Reader, and FreshRSS”.
It is actively developed. The release marked latest on GitHub when I looked was 7.1.5 for Mac, dated September 29, with four 7.2 beta builds for Mac posted between October 7 and October 11 (GitHub releases).
What it does not do: there are no AI summaries, no full-text fetching listed beyond reader view, and nothing but feeds. If you want YouTube and podcasts next to articles, look at Reeder.
Best RSS reader for an older Mac
Four of the nine apps now need macOS 15 or later. To see what your Mac runs, click the Apple menu and choose About This Mac (Apple Support). Apple’s list on that page puts macOS 27 Golden Gate newest, then Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15, Sonoma 14 and Ventura 13.
NetNewsWire keeps a page of old builds for this case. It lists NetNewsWire 6.2.1, “released December 2025”, which “Runs on macOS 13 and up”, and NetNewsWire 5.0.4 from 2020, which “Runs on macOS 10.14.4 and up” (old versions). The same page is blunt about the trade: “We can’t offer support for these versions. They surely have bugs, and we don’t even know what the bugs are.”
NetNewsWire’s old builds for older versions of macOS, 14 October 2026. Source: netnewswire.com
Here is what each macOS version adds. A Mac on any line can also run everything on the lines below it.
- macOS 26 or 27: anything in the table. NewsBlur’s Mac app is the only one whose listing requires macOS 26.
- macOS 15: NetNewsWire 7 and Unread. News Explorer needs 15.6.
- macOS 14: Reeder.
- macOS 13: NetNewsWire 6.2.1, without support.
- macOS 12: Reeder Classic, lire and ReadKit, all still updated in 2026.
- macOS 10.13 to 11: Vienna. Its README says versions 3.9.x and 3.10.x need macOS 10.13 or later, and that 3.11 will raise the minimum to macOS 10.15.
Vienna is free under the Apache 2.0 licence. It can sync with servers that support the Open Reader API, and the README says it has been tested with BazQux, FreshRSS, FeedHQ, Inoreader and The Old Reader. Version 3.10.8, dated July 19, exists because 3.10.7 crashed on old systems and was pulled (release notes), which tells you the project still tests on them.
Reeder and Reeder Classic are two different apps
Both are by Silvio Rizzi, and both are on sale.
Reeder (the yellow icon) is built around a timeline, not unread counts. Its listing says it “integrates videos, podcasts and social media posts into a single, streamlined view” and tells you to “Say goodbye to unread counts”. Reeder’s help page confirms there are “no unread counts or read/unread states”, that sync is through iCloud, and that support for outside sync services “is not currently planned” (Reeder help). The free version stops at 10 feeds and has no OPML import.
On price, trust the store. The help page still says “$1 per month or $10 per year”, but the US Mac App Store listed the in-app purchases at $1.99 monthly and $14.99 yearly when I checked. It rated 4.5 from 791 ratings and requires macOS 14.
The new Reeder on the US Mac App Store, 14 October 2026. Source: apps.apple.com
Reeder Classic (the grey icon) is the traditional reader older reviews call Reeder 5. The screenshots on its listing show an Unread count and folders in the sidebar, and you get a choice of sync. It costs $9.99 once on the Mac, with no in-app purchases on the listing. Version 5.6 came out on September 25 with the note “Ready for macOS 27”. Its description lists iCloud plus Feedbin, Feedly, FeedHQ, NewsBlur, The Old Reader, Inoreader, BazQux Reader and FreshRSS. The iPhone and iPad version is a separate $4.99 purchase (App Store).
Reeder Classic on the US Mac App Store, 14 October 2026. Source: apps.apple.com
If you already pay for Feedbin or Inoreader and want a polished Mac window onto it, Classic is the one. If you have no sync service and no wish for one, the new Reeder is simpler.
The specialists: lire, ReadKit, Unread, News Explorer
lire is for feeds that only publish a teaser. Its listing says it converts partial feeds “in to full feeds”, and that once articles are cached “you don’t even need to be connected” to read them. It is $9.99 once; the only in-app purchases are tips.
ReadKit combines feeds with read-later services: its listing names Instapaper, Wallabag and Pinboard next to ten feed services, including Miniflux and Tiny Tiny RSS. The free tier allows 20 feeds in the built-in engine. Premium is $2.99 a month or $9.99 a year, or $19.99 once for the Mac alone and $29.99 once for Mac and iOS together. Its last update was June 25, the oldest in the table.
Unread is free to read with, including its own sync service, Unread Cloud. The $29.99 a year subscription ($4.99 monthly) adds extras the listing spells out: article actions for read-later services, shortcuts, caching of webpage text and images, and widget customization. Version 5.1 arrived a few days before I checked and added Birchfeed sync.
News Explorer is $9.99 once and syncs through iCloud. It needs macOS 15.6, the second-highest requirement here.
NewsBlur is a hosted service first: its homepage describes training that hides the stories you do not like and highlights the ones you do, and bills the web version as “The full experience, right in your browser” (NewsBlur). The Mac app is the same listing as its iPhone and iPad app, and on a Mac older than macOS 26 the website is the way in.
Free RSS reader for Mac: what free means in each
- No limit listed: NetNewsWire and Vienna, both open source.
- Free to read, paid extras: Unread.
- Free with a feed cap: ReadKit (20 feeds), Reeder (10 feeds), NewsBlur (64 sites, per its pricing page).
- Free in a browser: Inoreader’s free plan allows 150 feeds (Inoreader pricing), and you can read it on the web or through NetNewsWire. For Feedly’s limits, see Feedly pricing.
When a browser tab beats a Mac app
NetNewsWire, Reeder, Reeder Classic and News Explorer sync through iCloud, and iCloud stops at Apple’s edge. If your phone runs Android, pick an app that signs in to a service with its own Android app (NetNewsWire or Reeder Classic with Inoreader or NewsBlur, whose own sites list Android apps), or use a web reader.
Hushread, my app, is one of those web readers. It has no Mac app: you open app.hushread.com in Safari or Chrome, and your sources, folders and read state follow you to its iPhone and Android apps (apps and devices). The reason to pick it is not the Mac experience. It folds articles about the same event from your different sources into one story, so ten outlets covering one announcement is one line in the feed, not ten.
It is free for 5 sources, then Pro is $1.25 a month billed yearly ($14.99 a year in the US). The web version sends no push notifications. If duplicates are your main complaint, RSS readers that remove duplicates compares how the others handle it.
FAQ
What is the best RSS reader for Mac?
NetNewsWire, for most people: it is free and open source, syncs through iCloud or services such as Feedbin, Feedly and Inoreader, and was last updated on September 29, 2026. It needs macOS 15 or newer, so on an older Mac choose Reeder Classic, lire or ReadKit (macOS 12) or Vienna (macOS 10.13).
Is there a free RSS reader for Mac?
Yes. NetNewsWire and Vienna are free and open source with no feed limit listed, and Unread is free to read with. ReadKit is free up to 20 feeds, Reeder up to 10 feeds and NewsBlur up to 64 sites.
What is the difference between Reeder and Reeder Classic?
Reeder is a subscription app ($1.99 a month or $14.99 a year in the US) with a single timeline, no unread counts and iCloud-only sync. Reeder Classic is a one-time $9.99 purchase on the Mac with unread counts and sync through services such as Feedbin, Feedly and Inoreader.
Which RSS feed app for Mac works on an old version of macOS?
Vienna 3.10 runs on macOS 10.13 or later, and NetNewsWire still offers version 5.0.4 for macOS 10.14.4 and up and 6.2.1 for macOS 13 and up, without support. Reeder Classic, lire and ReadKit all require macOS 12.
Which Mac RSS reader syncs with an Android phone?
iCloud sync does not reach Android, so pick a reader that signs in to a service with its own Android app. NewsBlur has a Mac app and an Android app, and NetNewsWire or Reeder Classic can sign in to Inoreader or NewsBlur; a web reader in the browser also works.
Start with NetNewsWire if your Mac runs macOS 15, and move only if you hit something it does not do: Reeder Classic for a paid, polished client on an existing service, lire for full text, Reeder for a mixed timeline. NetNewsWire exports your feed list as an OPML file, so moving your feeds later costs a few minutes. If you read on a Mac and an Android phone and are tired of repeated headlines, try Hushread in the browser with 5 sources first.