Comparison

Heartfeed RSS Reader vs FeedDeck

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Heartfeed RSS Reader

This app offers an efficient, no-nonsense way to read news from RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds without requiring account setup or server reliance. It features a compact grid view, background feed refreshing, and seamless syncing across iOS devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Compact grid view for feeds
  • Internal browser with content blocker support
  • Automatic iCloud sync for feeds and read status
  • Quick pick list for selecting news items
  • Background feed refresh and caching
  • Bookmark management with iCloud sync
  • Night mode theme
Features
Read full description

Do you want to read your news using RSS/Atom/JSON feeds in the most efficient, no-nonsense way, and with no requirement to setup an app-specific user account or relying on a server? If you do, Heartfeed might be the app for you. Features: - A compact grid view for your feeds, making it easy to check all of them at once - When reading news in the internal browser, full support of your configured content blockers, saved passwords, etc. - Automatic synching of subscribed feeds and read status between iOS devices (requires an iCloud account) - Quick pick list: Easily select which news items from different feeds you want to read - Background refresh of feeds: Some feeds refresh often and you then risk missing news in case the app is not used frequently. Background refresh, together with caching of the last 50 news items in each feed, prevents this from happening - Bookmarks, including reading them from either inside Heartfeed or from any iOS or macOS browser (requires an iCloud account) - Night mode theme - Subscribing to feeds from the current Heartfeed top list, from files, or directly from the web - Full support for split views and multi-tasking on iPads - No tracking of usage or personal data; optionally, you can anonymously share which feeds you subscribe to for improving the builtin top list of recommended feeds The app is 100% free and without ads. If you want to tip me somethings as thanks for the app, you can do so within the settings. I hope you'll enjoy using Heartfeed!

About

FeedDeck

Features
Read full description

FeedDeck is an open source RSS and social media feed reader, inspired by TweetDeck. FeedDeck allows you to follow your favorite feeds in one place on all platforms. FeedDeck is written in Flutter and uses Supabase and Deno as it's backend. - Available for mobile and desktop: FeedDeck provides the same experience for mobile and desktop with nearly 100% code sharing. - RSS and Social Media Feeds: Follow your favorite RSS and social media feeds. - News: Get the latest news from your favorite RSS feeds and Google News. - Social Media: Follow your friends and favorite topics on Medium, Reddit and Tumblr. - GitHub: Get your GitHub notifications and follow your repository activities. - Podcasts: Follow and listen to your favorite podcasts, via the built-in podcast player. - YouTube: Follow and view your favorite YouTube channels. Terms & Conditions: https://feeddeck.app/terms-and-conditions Privacy Policy: https://feeddeck.app/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Heartfeed RSS Reader4 screens
FeedDeck4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: FeedDeck at 12.0 against Heartfeed RSS Reader's 15.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Heartfeed RSS Reader sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and FeedDeck sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Heartfeed RSS Reader ships an update every 2 months, FeedDeck every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 12, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Heartfeed RSS Reader versus FeedDeck: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeartfeed RSS ReaderFeedDeck
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (90 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews89.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings90 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB61 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperOzymandiasRico Berger

Bugs and requests

Heartfeed RSS Reader

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Crashes after adding feeds
  • Multiple crashes during normal usage
  • App fails to start after recent updates
  • iCloud syncing issues (requires troubleshooting)
Show 1 more
  • Bright reader screen conflicts with dark mode setting

Requested features

13 requests
  • Search functionality with highlighting across feeds
  • Individual mark-as-read buttons per feed
  • Thumbnail images in grid view
  • Apple Watch app support
  • Offline reading capability
Show 8 more
  • Multi-language support including RTL scripts
  • Integration with Feedly and other accounts
  • Preserve feed groups on OPML import
  • Dark mode for reader screen
  • Feed discovery page with popular feeds index
  • Ability to save/bookmark articles
  • Variable font sizes in grid view
  • Apple News+ integration

FeedDeck

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Heartfeed RSS Reader

One-time5
  • Tipping the developer$0.99
  • Unlimited feeds$2.99
  • Tipping the developer$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Even more tip to the developer$9.99
  • Maximum tip to the developer$24.99
1 purchases

FeedDeck

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly$8.991 Month

Questions

Is Heartfeed RSS Reader free?
Heartfeed RSS Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FeedDeck free?
FeedDeck is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Heartfeed RSS Reader or FeedDeck have ads?
Neither Heartfeed RSS Reader nor FeedDeck shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Heartfeed RSS Reader or FeedDeck?
Heartfeed RSS Reader ships an update every 2 months, and FeedDeck every 5 weeks. Most recently, Heartfeed RSS Reader was updated on September 12, 2026 and FeedDeck on September 15, 2026.

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