Feedbin
Hosted RSS and newsletter reader with search and filtering
Feedbin's solo core is compact: build a private RSS reader workspace that imports user-supplied URLs or files, extracts metadata, supports notes, and searches the local corpus. A competent builder can reach a useful personal version in one sitting, while the paid product mainly wins on data, import reliability.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- publisher-specific import reliability
- citation graph scale
- team libraries and institutional access
- resilient polling of malformed and rate-limited feeds
- licensed scholarly metadata
Why people still pay
Feedbin: Researchers pay for correct metadata, resilient importers, citation coverage, and workflows that survive publisher and browser changes.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- Runtime and tools: Python, a bounded HTTP worker, feedparser, SQLite FTS5 and a small local web reader.
- Before starting: A reviewed list of permitted RSS/Atom feeds and OPML examples; a running worker is required for scheduled refresh.
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Project rule — domain: Store Feed, FeedItem, Subscription, ReadState and NewsletterMessageID; read state belongs to a stable item and duplicate mail deliveries cannot create duplicate articles.
Project rule — scope and recovery: Start with RSS before inbound email. The inbound address needs abuse limits and a provider/parser setup; full-text fetching applies only where permitted and cannot guarantee paywall access.
Project rule — acceptance: Import OPML twice, replay a newsletter message and update a feed article body; subscriptions stay unique, read state survives and the content revision remains inspectable.
Project rule — delivery: document real setup commands and permissions; do not claim a build, accuracy level, performance result or security certification that has not been demonstrated.
Recommended skill: modern-python — structure the Python worker or explicitly optional read-only utility with pinned dependencies, typed boundaries and clear failure handling. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Recommended skill: web-design-guidelines — review keyboard access, focus, validation, error recovery and the readable work/review interface or HTML report. Follow the maintainer's installation instructions and match its requirements to the chosen runtime.
Implementation plan
Phase 1
Pin the working slice and create its example input: Import an OPML library, read articles in folders, save favorites and optionally route newsletters from one explicitly configured inbound address into the same reader. Confirm setup: A reviewed list of permitted RSS/Atom feeds and OPML examples; a running worker is required for scheduled refresh.
Phase 2
Implement persistence and write-time invariants before decorating the UI: Store Feed, FeedItem, Subscription, ReadState and NewsletterMessageID; read state belongs to a stable item and duplicate mail deliveries cannot create duplicate articles.
Phase 3
Connect the working view to real saved state. Preserve feed GUIDs with a canonical URL fallback. Use conditional requests, per-host backoff and separate fetch errors from empty feeds; sanitize article HTML and prevent private-network URL fetches.
Phase 4
Expose the app-specific limits and recovery path in context: Start with RSS before inbound email. The inbound address needs abuse limits and a provider/parser setup; full-text fetching applies only where permitted and cannot guarantee paywall access.
Phase 5
Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Import OPML twice, replay a newsletter message and update a feed article body; subscriptions stay unique, read state survives and the content revision remains inspectable. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.
Build the following focused alternative to Feedbin. Implement the focused workflow below first; the verdict is not evidence of a completed or production-certified build. WORKING SLICE Import an OPML library, read articles in folders, save favorites and optionally route newsletters from one explicitly configured inbound address into the same reader. SETUP AND ARCHITECTURE Use Python, a bounded HTTP worker, feedparser, SQLite FTS5 and a small local web reader. Prerequisites: A reviewed list of permitted RSS/Atom feeds and OPML examples; a running worker is required for scheduled refresh. Before integrating anything, record actual versions and permissions, plus model files or provider limits only where used, in the README; make unavailable dependencies visible rather than simulating success. DOMAIN MODEL AND INVARIANTS Store Feed, FeedItem, Subscription, ReadState and NewsletterMessageID; read state belongs to a stable item and duplicate mail deliveries cannot create duplicate articles. IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT Preserve feed GUIDs with a canonical URL fallback. Use conditional requests, per-host backoff and separate fetch errors from empty feeds; sanitize article HTML and prevent private-network URL fetches. Provide an input/setup view, the main work view, and a review/export view appropriate to this workflow. Preserve the last saved state if a job or save fails. Include empty, loading, permission-denied, partial and retryable-error states. Log identifiers and error categories without secret values or unnecessary private content. APP-SPECIFIC BOUNDARY AND RECOVERY Start with RSS before inbound email. The inbound address needs abuse limits and a provider/parser setup; full-text fetching applies only where permitted and cannot guarantee paywall access. ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO Import OPML twice, replay a newsletter message and update a feed article body; subscriptions stay unique, read state survives and the content revision remains inspectable. Also reopen the app after an interrupted operation, confirm the saved record/export remains inspectable, and document the recovery action. These are implementation acceptance requirements, not a claim that this guide has been tested. DELIVERY Deliver a runnable repository with migrations or project-format versioning, a non-sensitive example, environment/permission setup, the exact manual acceptance steps, and a backup/export-and-restore walkthrough. Implement the working slice before optional integrations; list any deferred paid-product capabilities honestly. Do not add capabilities outside the working slice just to resemble the original product. PROJECT RULES FOR AGENTS.md Keep the domain invariants above executable at the write boundary. Propose scope changes before adding providers or permissions. Never fabricate source evidence, publish results, identity matches or successful delivery. Preserve user originals and require an explicit confirmation for destructive changes or external publication.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md
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Alternatives to building your own
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Feedbin pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| standard | $7/user | $5.83/user | All Feedbin RSS, newsletter, search and filtering features; no separate lower paid tier.Annual total is $70. |
free tierno free tier; 30-day trial with no card
billingmonthly + annual
pricing sources checked 2026-08-13 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Feedbin
Can you build your own Feedbin with AI?
The verdict is yes for the scoped workflow. Feedbin's solo core is compact: build a private RSS reader workspace that imports user-supplied URLs or files, extracts metadata, supports notes, and searches the local corpus. A competent builder can reach a useful personal version in one sitting, while the paid product mainly wins on data, import reliability.
What does the Feedbin build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Import an OPML library, read articles in folders, save favorites and optionally route newsletters from one explicitly configured inbound address into the same reader. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: publisher-specific import reliability; citation graph scale; team libraries and institutional access. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Feedbin prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Feedbin project take?
The catalogue estimate is one sitting for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Feedbin?
publisher-specific import reliability; citation graph scale; team libraries and institutional access; resilient polling of malformed and rate-limited feeds; licensed scholarly metadata. Feedbin: Researchers pay for correct metadata, resilient importers, citation coverage, and workflows that survive publisher and browser changes.
What price is this guide comparing against?
The recorded Standard plan is $7/mo (monthly subscription), checked 2026-07-31. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.
What can I use instead of building Feedbin?
Folo: RSS and one newsletter inbox for free; the 151st feed starts a pricing conversation. NewsBlur: RSS, email newsletters, search and filtering, provided you operate the whole contraption. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.