BazQux Reader vs NewsBlur
We give BazQux Reader a 3.2 GPA and NewsBlur a 3.6, out of 4.0. BazQux Reader grades higher on value for money. NewsBlur grades higher on the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
BazQux Reader
Paid web RSS reader that shows article comments and full text
NewsBlur
Open-source RSS reader with trainable story filters
How we grade them
| 3.2GPABazQux ReaderVery good | 3.6GPANewsBlurExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$30 a year buys the whole service: up to 3,000 feeds, filters, full-text articles and the API. That's under what most paid readers charge, with no tiers to climb. The $50 option is the same thing with a bigger thank-you, and lifetime is $249. | BPremium is $36 a year for 1,024 sites, search and text view, about what feed readers usually charge. But web feeds, Ask AI and the permanent archive need Premium Archive at $99 a year, and Premium Pro is $29 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's no free plan, and the FAQ says free accounts won't be added. You get a 30-day free trial instead, and the listing doesn't say whether it needs a card. Only paying and trial users have their feeds updated. | BFree covers 64 sites with real-time updates, training and the phone apps, and every new account gets a 30-day Premium trial with no card. But search, text view and River of News are paid. Or run the open-source code on your own server for nothing. |
| Features | AComments shown inside the reader, social pages followed as feeds, full text pulled in for truncated articles, and up to 500 filters and smart streams. Each feed can have its own view: list, mosaic, magazine or expanded. That's the whole job of a feed reader and then some. | AYou train it by author, tag and title, and it highlights or hides stories to match. Add search, newsletters by email, a permanent story archive, feeds built for sites without RSS, and Ask AI on the top plans. Few readers go this deep. |
| Ease of use | BIt has no app of its own, so there's no App Store rating on record and a B is as high as we go. It's a website you sign in to, and following a Facebook, Telegram or VK page is just entering its address. | A4.7 from 507 App Store ratings. Training is a thumbs up or a thumbs down, nothing more technical than that. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, on desktop and phone browsers. But its Google Reader and Fever compatible APIs let Reeder, NetNewsWire, Fiery Feeds, FeedMe and others connect, and those bring the apps and offline reading BazQux doesn't make. | AWeb, iPhone and Android, with IFTTT and Zapier, and an open API that Reeder, ReadKit, Unread and others plug into. There's no desktop app of its own, so on a computer it's the browser or one of those. |
| Best for | reading the comments along with the article | training your own news filters |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: BazQux Reader and NewsBlur. How we grade
Where they differ
- BazQux Reader starts at $30 per year. NewsBlur starts at $36 per year (Premium).
- NewsBlur has a free plan. BazQux Reader does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only NewsBlur lists iOS and Android apps.
- NewsBlur is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- NewsBlur also covers read later.
At a glance
| BazQux Reader | NewsBlur | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $30 per year | $36 per year (Premium) |
| Free plan | None | Follow up to 64 sites with real-time updates, training by author, tag and title, saved stories, a public blurblog, and the iOS and Android apps. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial | 30-day premium trial on every new account, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Vladimir Shabanov | NewsBlur, Inc. |
| Price read from | bazqux.com | newsblur.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
BazQux Reader
- Readers who want article comments next to the articles
- People following Facebook, Telegram or VK pages alongside blogs
- Users of clients such as Reeder or NetNewsWire who need a sync service
NewsBlur
- Readers who want to train their own filters rather than rely on an algorithm
- People who prefer open-source software or want to self-host
- Professionals who need feeds polled every few minutes
Worth knowing
BazQux Reader
- There is no free plan: the FAQ says free accounts will not be added, and only paying and trial users have their feeds updated.
- BazQux offers desktop and mobile web interfaces but no apps of its own; apps and offline reading come from third-party clients.
- An account can hold up to 3,000 feeds, and each feed keeps at most 500 articles, read and unread together.
- The service is a one-person project, and VAT or GST may be added to the listed price depending on country.
NewsBlur
- The free plan is limited to 64 sites.
- Search, River of News and text view start at Premium; web feeds, Ask AI and the archive need Premium Archive.
- Premium and Premium Archive are priced per year only, while Premium Pro is priced per month.
- Native apps are listed for iOS and Android; desktop use is through the web app or third-party clients.
Key features
BazQux Reader
- Comments inside the reader
- Article comments are shown in the reader itself, and new comments can be followed in the same way as new articles, so there is no need to open the site to check them.
- Social pages as feeds
- Facebook, Telegram and VK pages can be followed by entering the page URL, and they then sit alongside ordinary websites and blogs.
- Full-text articles
- Truncated articles and linked pages can be expanded to their full content inside the reader, and summary-only feeds can be converted to full-text ones.
- Filters and smart streams
- Filters hide unwanted articles and smart streams collect the ones to watch, with up to 500 of the two combined. Search covers feeds and tagged articles.
- View modes, themes and typography
- Each feed can use a list, mosaic, magazine or expanded view, and feeds with different views can be read together in a mixed view. Colors, fonts and layout are adjustable.
- Google Reader and Fever APIs
- Third-party apps connect through Google Reader compatible and Fever APIs. The apps page lists clients such as Reeder, NetNewsWire, Fiery Feeds and FeedMe, which also provide offline reading.
NewsBlur
- Intelligence Training
- Mark authors, tags and title keywords with a thumbs up or down to highlight matching stories or fade them out. Full-text training needs Premium Archive.
- Web Feeds
- On Premium Archive, NewsBlur builds a feed for a web page that has no RSS by monitoring the page for changes.
- Search and story archive
- Premium adds full-text search across subscriptions. Premium Archive keeps every story indefinitely and back-fills the history of newly added feeds.
- Ask AI and Daily Briefing
- Premium Archive can ask questions about a story using Claude, GPT, Gemini or Grok, and receives an AI-written daily summary of top stories.
- Email newsletters
- Forward newsletters to a personal NewsBlur email address and they appear as a feed that can be trained, tagged and searched like any other.
- Open source and open API
- The server and both mobile apps are open source on GitHub, and the API supports third-party clients such as Reeder, ReadKit and Unread.
Plans
BazQux Reader
Annual$30
per year
The full service: up to 3,000 feeds, filters and smart streams, full-text articles and API access. VAT or GST may be added depending on country.
Annual, supporter price$50
per year
Identical to the $30 option. The FAQ describes the higher price as a way to give the developer more support.
Lifetime$249
one-time payment
A lifetime subscription to the same service for a single payment.
NewsBlur
Free$0
Follow up to 64 sites, with real-time updates, training by author, tag and title, saved stories, a public blurblog, and the mobile apps.
Self-Hosted$0
The open-source code from GitHub, run on your own server with a single Docker command. Hosting is your own responsibility.
Premium$36
per year
1,024 sites, feeds updated up to 5x more often, River of News, search, text view, tagged saved stories, and blurblog privacy options.
Premium Archive$99
per year
4,096 sites, web feeds for sites without RSS, a permanent searchable archive, Ask AI, daily briefing, story clustering, and the MCP server and CLI.
Premium Pro$29
per month
10,000 sites, every feed fetched every 5 to 15 minutes, training with regular expressions, and priority support.
Ways to pay less
BazQux Reader
- Lifetime license
Lifetime subscription for $249
The FAQ lists a one-time $249 lifetime subscription as an alternative to paying $30 or $50 a year.
NewsBlur
No public discounts listed.
