NewsBlur

Self-host a feed reader with training filters, folders, and full-text search

YES · focused build
price $3/mosubscription / year $36estimated build time one sittingreplaced by 0 people

The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For NewsBlur, self-host a feed reader with training filters, folders, and full-text search. The hard boundary is hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features, plus capture polish, sync, and content partnerships.

Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability

What you give up

  • hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features
  • publisher bypasses
  • cross-device mobile capture
  • high-quality recommendation graph
  • licensed full-text feeds

Why people still pay

People still pay for NewsBlur because people pay when capture works everywhere, reading state syncs instantly, and the archive remains clean without constant parser repairs. The recurring cost buys feed quirks, parsing, paywalls, canonical URLs, deduplication, images, search, sync, browser extensions, and publisher changes, not just the visible interface.

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.
01
Python, a bounded HTTP worker, feedparser, SQLite FTS5 and a small local web reader
02
Data design: Store Subscription, Item, TrainingRule and MatchExplanation; training preferences are reversible and hidden articles remain reachable through an unfiltered view.
03
Setup: A reviewed list of permitted RSS/Atom feeds and OPML examples; a running worker is required for scheduled refresh
engineering roadmap

Implementation plan

1

Phase 1

Pin the working slice and create its example input: Read a personal feed collection, train transparent preferences for authors/tags/phrases and inspect why an article is emphasized or hidden. Confirm setup: A reviewed list of permitted RSS/Atom feeds and OPML examples; a running worker is required for scheduled refresh.

2

Phase 2

Implement persistence and write-time invariants before decorating the UI: Store Subscription, Item, TrainingRule and MatchExplanation; training preferences are reversible and hidden articles remain reachable through an unfiltered view.

3

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.

4

Phase 4

Expose the app-specific limits and recovery path in context: Keep simple rules distinct from an opaque recommendation model. Start without social sharing or hosted availability guarantees; preserve OPML and article-state exports.

5

Phase 5

Walk through this concrete acceptance case and preserve its exported evidence: Train a disliked phrase then discover it inside a useful article; reveal the exact matching rule, override it and recover the article without re-fetching the feed. Finish the README and backup/restore instructions; report unfinished capabilities explicitly.

the pro prompt
download AGENTS.md
Build the following focused alternative to NewsBlur. Implement the focused workflow below first; the verdict is not evidence of a completed or production-certified build.

WORKING SLICE
Read a personal feed collection, train transparent preferences for authors/tags/phrases and inspect why an article is emphasized or hidden.

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 Subscription, Item, TrainingRule and MatchExplanation; training preferences are reversible and hidden articles remain reachable through an unfiltered view.

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
Keep simple rules distinct from an opaque recommendation model. Start without social sharing or hosted availability guarantees; preserve OPML and article-state exports.

ACCEPTANCE SCENARIO
Train a disliked phrase then discover it inside a useful article; reveal the exact matching rule, override it and recover the article without re-fetching the feed. 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 · generated from this app's build plan

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Alternatives to building your own

FreshRSSA proper feed reader with no product manager deciding which feature becomes premium.16kaug 2026open source↗MinifluxA fast feed reader for people who think settings pages are a moral failure.9.6kmay 2026open source↗NewsBlurNewsBlur without the subscription, plus Postgres, MongoDB, Redis and a new hobby.7.6kaug 2026open source↗

all 3 free alternatives to NewsBlur →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real

NewsBlur pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
free$0/user$0/userUp to 64 sites; real-time RSS, training filters and saved stories.
premium—$3/userUp to 1,024 sites.Annual-only: $36/year.
premium archive—$8.25/userUp to 4,096 sites; searchable archive retained indefinitely; AI and briefing features.Annual-only: $99/year.
premium pro$29/user—Up to 10,000 sites; 5–15 minute feed fetching; regular-expression tools.Monthly-only.

free tier64 sites

billingPremium and Premium Archive are annual-only; Premium Pro is monthly-only; 30-day Premium trial with no card

hidden costsupgrades are prorated; on downgrade, feeds above the lower plan limit are muted; self-hosting uses open-source software but requires separately paid infrastructure

pricing sources checked 2026-08-13 · pricing source ↗

Questions about NewsBlur

Can you build your own NewsBlur with AI?

The verdict is yes for the scoped workflow. The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For NewsBlur, self-host a feed reader with training filters, folders, and full-text search. The hard boundary is hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features, plus capture polish, sync, and content partnerships.

What does the NewsBlur build prompt cover?

The prompt starts with this scope: Read a personal feed collection, train transparent preferences for authors/tags/phrases and inspect why an article is emphasized or hidden. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features; publisher bypasses; cross-device mobile capture. 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 NewsBlur 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 NewsBlur 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 NewsBlur?

hosted convenience, native apps, story intelligence, and community features; publisher bypasses; cross-device mobile capture; high-quality recommendation graph; licensed full-text feeds. People still pay for NewsBlur because people pay when capture works everywhere, reading state syncs instantly, and the archive remains clean without constant parser repairs. The recurring cost buys feed quirks, parsing, paywalls, canonical URLs, deduplication, images, search, sync, browser extensions, and publisher changes, not just the visible interface.

What price is this guide comparing against?

The recorded Premium plan is $3/mo (annual-equivalent), 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 NewsBlur?

FreshRSS: A proper feed reader with no product manager deciding which feature becomes premium. Miniflux: A fast feed reader for people who think settings pages are a moral failure. NewsBlur: NewsBlur without the subscription, plus Postgres, MongoDB, Redis and a new hobby. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/newsblur-premium/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.

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