RSS parser

Judgement

What it is

Building block

What it does

A JavaScript library that fetches and parses RSS and Atom feeds into JSON in Node or the browser.

Adopt it when

Your JavaScript app needs to read feeds and you want a small, widely used parser.

Watch out

No tagged releases on GitHub and modest maintenance activity.

Ready for

Production-ready

Runs as

Library

Built with

JavaScript and Node.js

How established

Established: started 11 years ago, no tagged release yet.

What the license allows

You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.

Judged on 2026-11-03 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Follow it down: RSS parser → V8 → LLVM project → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

Open-source alternatives to RSS parser

1. 1
   Folo RSSNext

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2. 2
   FreshRSS FreshRSS

   A free, self-hostable news aggregator…

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3. 3
   NetNewsWire Ranchero-Software

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   Complete system Production-ready You use Apple devices and want a fast, free, privacy-respecting feed reader.

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4. 4
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5. 5
   Fluent Reader yang991178

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   Complete system Usable You want a clean desktop feed reader, especially on Windows.

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6. 6
   NewsBlur samuelclay

   NewsBlur is a personal news reader that brings people together to talk about the world. A new sound of an old instrument.

   Complete system Production-ready You want a mature hosted feed reader with filtering, or want to study or self-host the full stack.

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7. 7
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   Complete system Usable You want a good-looking free feed reader on Android.

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8. 8
   PlainApp plainhub

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   Complete system Usable You want to move files and handle messages on your Android phone from your computer without cloud services.

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Commercial RSS readers

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4. 4
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