Liferea vs NetNewsWire (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, NetNewsWire grades higher than Liferea: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
NetNewsWire grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick Liferea if
- Fits if you run Linux and want a local feed reader
- Works for pairing with a self-hosted reader like FreshRSS or Miniflux
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you use Windows or macOS, as no builds are listed
- Skip it if you read on a phone, as it has no phone or web app
- Watch out: install is through distribution packages, Snap or Flatpak, not one installer
- Too light for reading on other devices, as that needs a synced service and a different client
Pick NetNewsWire if
- Fits if you're on Mac, iPhone or iPad and want a free reader with no account
- Works for people who already sync feeds through Feedbin, Feedly or Inoreader
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use Windows, Android or the web, because it's Apple devices only
- Tight if your Mac or iPhone is an older one, since the current version needs macOS 15 or iOS 26 and newer
- Too light for you if you want filters, rules or reader view on everywhere at once
- Watch out: volunteers make it, and bugs and requests go through GitHub issues and a forum
How we grade them
| 2.8GPALifereaGood | 3.0GPANetNewsWireVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree software with no paid plans, under 60% of the cheaper quarter. | AIt costs nothing, and there's nothing to upgrade to, in a category where paid readers start at $2.42 a month in the cheapest quarter. Open source under the MIT license with no in-app purchases, and the project even asks supporters not to send money. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no plan, no cap and no account to open. | AThe complete app is free on Mac, iPhone and iPad, iCloud sync and syncing with third-party feed services included. No cap anyone will reach, because there's no paid version to hold anything back for. |
| Features | CFeeds, offline reading, search folders and podcasts. It targets Linux and GNOME, and does the reader job fully, as a smaller one. | CIt covers the basics of feed reading: direct feeds or sync through seven services, reader view, smart feeds, folders, stars, search, single-key shortcuts and OPML. The listing names the gap: reader view can't be turned on for everything at once, only per article or per feed, so summary-only feeds stay fiddly. |
| Ease of use | BInstalled from your distribution and used like a mail client, with no store rating read. | B4.75 from 884 App Store ratings, short of the 1,000 ratings we want behind an A. There's no account to make, since it can download feeds directly: add a feed, or use the Safari extension on the page you're reading, and you're off. |
| Platforms and integrations | DLinux and FreeBSD only, which is a single operating system. Sync works with The Old Reader, FreshRSS, Miniflux and Tiny Tiny RSS. | COne family of devices: Mac, iPhone and iPad, with a Safari extension and nothing for web, Windows or Android. The current release also needs macOS 15 or iOS 26 and newer. It does sync with seven feed services, if you read elsewhere too. |
| Best for | a local feed reader on the Linux desktop | a free, no-account RSS reader on Apple devices |
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: Liferea and NetNewsWire. How we grade
Price against what you get
Liferea has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. NetNewsWire has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
NetNewsWire scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other read-later and bookmark apps on the chart, none scores higher than Liferea for less, and none scores higher than NetNewsWire for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
In commonFree planOpen sourceRSS reader
At a glance
| Liferea | NetNewsWire | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | None | Entirely free and open source under the MIT license, with no in-app purchases. The project asks people who want to support it not to send money. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Liferea project | Brent Simmons |
| Price read from | github.com | netnewswire.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Liferea
- It targets Linux and the GNOME desktop; the install page lists Linux and FreeBSD packages and no Windows or macOS builds.
- It has no phone or web app of its own, so reading elsewhere needs a synced service and a different client.
- Installation is through distribution packages, Snap or Flatpak rather than a single installer.
NetNewsWire
- Apple platforms only: Mac, iPhone and iPad, with no web, Windows or Android version.
- The current version needs macOS 15 or iOS 26 and newer.
- Reader view cannot be switched on for everything at once; it is used per article or per feed.
- The app is made by volunteers, with bug reports and requests handled through GitHub issues and a forum.
Key features
Liferea
- Mail-client style layout
- A three-part interface with a feed list, item list and an embedded web browser, similar to a desktop mail or news client.
- Offline reading
- Articles can be read without a connection, and headlines can be kept permanently in news bins.
- Full article text
- Full article text can be forced using HTML5 extraction, and some HTML5 sites without a feed can be subscribed to.
- Sync with other readers
- Synchronizes through the Google Reader API with services such as The Old Reader, FreshRSS and Miniflux, and with Tiny Tiny RSS.
- Search folders
- Search folders match items across feeds by rule.
- Podcasts and gopher
- Podcasts can be played inside the reader, and gopher phlogs can be read.
NetNewsWire
- Direct feed downloading
- Feeds can be fetched straight from the sites that publish them, so the app works without signing up for a feed service.
- Sync through iCloud or feed services
- Feed lists and read and starred status sync through iCloud, or through Feedbin, Feedly, BazQux, Inoreader, NewsBlur, The Old Reader and FreshRSS.
- Reader view and article themes
- Reader view pulls the full article text when a feed carries only a summary and can be set to always apply to a given feed. Article themes are customizable.
- Smart feeds, folders and stars
- All Unread and Today smart feeds, folders, starred articles and search organize reading, and read articles and feeds can be hidden.
- Keyboard navigation and Mac extras
- Single-key shortcuts cover everyday navigation. The Mac app adds a customizable toolbar, multiple windows and AppleScript support.
- Safari extension and OPML
- A Safari extension adds the feed for the page you are viewing, and feed lists can be imported and exported as OPML.
Plans
Liferea
Liferea$0
Open-source software under the LGPL-3.0 license, installed through distribution packages, Snap or Flatpak.
NetNewsWire
Free$0
The complete app on Mac, iPhone and iPad, including iCloud sync and syncing with third-party feed services.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Liferea or NetNewsWire?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Liferea and NetNewsWire are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Liferea or NetNewsWire?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Liferea and NetNewsWire have a free plan.
Which platforms do Liferea and NetNewsWire run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Liferea lists a Linux app and only NetNewsWire lists macOS and iOS apps and a browser extension. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.