RSS & research · checked 2026-10-14

Can I vibecode Feedly?

YES· one-shottable

A personal Feedly is a poller, a parser and a list: fetch each feed on a schedule, store every item once, track what you have read, and let you search and save. An agent builds that on SQLite in one sitting, and an OPML import carries your folders over. What you give up is the cloud around it: native apps that sync read state, Feedly's own crawler of sources, and the Pro+ extras such as AI feeds, newsletters and the RSS Builder. If you only want the reading, FreshRSS and Miniflux are mature and free, and a phone browser or an installed web app covers the rest.

$6.99/moprice

$84you'd save a year

one sittingbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyBeginner · No setup beyond your agent.

TimeAbout an hour for a reader you can use, a little more to host it

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
Node.js 22better-sqlite3 compiles a native module, so build tools must be installed.
An OPML export from FeedlyOpen feedly.com/i/opml in the web app; it covers feeds and folders only.
A machine that stays onA Raspberry Pi, a home server or a small VPS behind a reverse proxy.

Before you buildFeedly Free already follows up to 100 feeds, and FreshRSS or Miniflux are free and mature if you would rather not build one.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a personal RSS reader to replace Feedly. Requirements:

- Node.js 22 + TypeScript: a Fastify server and a React UI built with Vite. `npm start` serves
  http://127.0.0.1:4750 and runs the feed poller in the same process.
- Storage: better-sqlite3 in ./data/reader.db with folders, feeds, items, read state and saved items.
  Items are unique per feed by guid (fall back to the link). Keep read items for 90 days, never delete
  unread or saved ones.
- OPML: import (folders become folders) and export, parsed with `feedsmith`. A feed that fails to parse
  is listed with its error, not dropped.
- Polling: each feed on its own schedule (default 30 minutes, 5 minutes to 24 hours), at most 4 requests
  at once, a User-Agent that names the app, ETag and If-Modified-Since support and exponential backoff
  after errors. Show last fetch time and error per feed.
- Reading: three panes (folders and feeds with unread counts, item list, article). Clean feed content
  with `sanitize-html`; a "Full text" button fetches the page and extracts it with
  `@mozilla/readability`. Keys: j/k next and previous, m mark read, s save, o open original, A mark
  all read.
- Search: SQLite FTS5 over title and content, with filters for folder, unread and saved.
- Discovery: paste a site URL and find its feeds from `<link rel="alternate">` tags.
- Single user; require one password from .env when bound beyond localhost. No accounts, no telemetry,
  local-first: only feed hosts and pages you open are contacted.
- Out of scope: native mobile apps, AI features, newsletters, sharing integrations, multiple users.
- README: setup, running on a home server behind a reverse proxy, backing up the database, and how to
  import a Feedly OPML file.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

Share on X

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Feedly.

Make the reader in this folder usable on a phone as an installed web app. Requirements:

- Add a web app manifest and a service worker (`workbox-build`) that caches the app shell and the
  latest 200 items for offline reading.
- Use a single-column layout under 700 px wide, with swipe left to mark read and swipe right to save.
- Queue read and save actions made offline and replay them when the connection returns.
- Serve over HTTPS only; document a Caddy or Cloudflare Tunnel setup in the README.

Add rules to the reader in this folder. Requirements:

- Rules match on feed, folder, title or content with keywords or a regex, and then mark read, star or
  delete the item.
- Run rules when items are fetched and show a dry run with the items a new rule would hit.
- A Rules page to list, reorder, enable and disable rules, with counts of items affected.
- Update the README.

Add newsletter support to the reader in this folder. Requirements:

- Poll an IMAP folder named in .env with `imapflow` every 10 minutes and parse messages with
  `mailparser`.
- Each sender becomes a feed; each email becomes an item with sanitized HTML and the original date.
- Move processed mail to an Archive folder and never delete anything.
- Show the IMAP status in the settings page.
- Update the README with the app-password steps for common mail providers.

Add item summaries to the reader in this folder. Requirements:

- A Summarize button on an article that sends its text to a model through ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in .env
  and shows a three-sentence summary.
- Cache each summary in SQLite and never summarize the same item twice.
- Show a monthly count of summaries and an estimated cost, with a cap set in .env.
- Update the README with exactly what text is sent to the API.

What you lose

Native iOS and Android apps that keep read state in step
Feedly's own source checking, which Pro advertises as delivering new articles up to 10 times faster
AI feeds, topic filters and mute filters (Pro+)
Newsletters, Google News feeds and the RSS Builder for sites without a feed (Pro+)
One-click saves and shares to Evernote, OneNote, LinkedIn, Buffer, IFTTT and Zapier

Why people still pay

Readers pay for a reader that is simply there on every device: add a source once, read it on a phone or a laptop, and keep read state and notes in step without running a server. Pro adds search, notes and bigger limits, and Pro+ adds AI feeds and newsletters for people who track a topic for work. Cheaper and free readers exist; reviewers say the polish and the apps are what keep people.

Moatexecution polish integrations

Do the math

Feedly or your own copy?

Over

Your usage

Count my time3h ×$/h

Feedly, 1 yr$84

Your own copy, 1 yr$41running + build session

You keep$43pays for itself in 2 months

Estimate · Free on a computer or Raspberry Pi you already run. A small VPS for access from your phone adds a few dollars a month. The build is token usage on your agent plan.

Leaving Feedly

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of Feedly

1Feeds and folders: open feedly.com/i/opml in the web app (not the mobile app) to download an OPML file of your public feeds.
2OPML leaves out boards, Read Later articles, Feedly AI feeds and Reddit feeds. The help center suggests the Dropbox integration, IFTTT or Zapier to copy Read Later and board content.
3Notes and highlights are not mentioned as part of the export, so copy anything you need by hand.

2 · Cancel Feedly

1Open feedly.com/i/account/billing and manage or cancel the subscription there.
2Before you cancel, remove sources, Feeds and Boards above the free limits (100 sources, 3 Feeds, 3 Boards, according to the help center).
3If you subscribed through the App Store, use your Apple subscription settings; the help article does not cover it.

After cancelling, the account falls back to the free plan with the lower caps.
If you were charged for a renewal or a first year in the last 5 days, the billing page offers a self-service refund.
Feeds in an AI feed are not part of the OPML, so note the topics before you downgrade.
The upgrade page and the older help articles quote different prices, so check what you are charged on the billing page.

Checked 2026-10-14 against Feedly's docs: 1, 2, 3, 4

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

FreshRSSOpen sourceSelf-hosted reader with a full web interface, extensions and an API that many phone apps can sync with.★ 16k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗MinifluxOpen sourceMinimal single-binary reader with a fast web interface and an API for third-party apps; a hosted version is offered.★ 9.8k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗yarrOpen sourceOne executable with a built-in web interface and local storage, the lowest-effort way to self-host.★ 4.1k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
Web, macOS, Windows, LinuxVisit ↗

All 6 free alternatives to Feedly ›

The numbers

Feedly pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Free	$0	$0	Up to 100 feeds in 3 folders on web and mobile.
Pro	—	$6.99	1,000 feeds, notes and highlights, search, saves to Evernote and OneNote, shares to LinkedIn, Buffer, IFTTT and Zapier, no sponsored ads, premium support.
Pro+	—	$12.23	Up to 2,500 feeds, Feedly AI feeds, mute filters, newsletters, Google News feeds and the RSS Builder.
Enterprise	custom	—	Up to 7,500 feeds, team feeds and boards, API access, SSO/SAML, Slack and Microsoft Teams, market and threat intelligence skills.

Free tier: 100 feeds in 3 folders; no search, notes or integrations.
Billing: The upgrade page shows prices as "per month billed annually" with no monthly option, so $6.99 is the annual price spread over twelve months. Help-center articles from 2024 still mention $7 monthly or $65 yearly, so confirm the figure at checkout.
Hidden costs: Pro+ is advertised at a first-year discount, so expect a higher price from the second year. AI feeds, newsletters, the RSS Builder and mute filters are Pro+ only, and team boards and API access need Enterprise. Before you cancel, anything above the free caps has to be removed.
Source: feedly.com

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Questions

Feedly, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

Ask a question ›

Free follows up to 100 feeds organised in 3 folders, on web and mobile.

Yes. An AI coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor can build a usable personal version in one session with the prompt on this page, running on your own machine.

About $6.99 a month on the Pro plan, $83.88 a year (checked 2026-10-14).

Native iOS and Android apps that keep read state in step; Feedly's own source checking, which Pro advertises as delivering new articles up to 10 times faster; AI feeds, topic filters and mute filters (Pro+); Newsletters, Google News feeds and the RSS Builder for sites without a feed (Pro+); One-click saves and shares to Evernote, OneNote, LinkedIn, Buffer, IFTTT and Zapier. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.