Comparison

RSS vs Folo

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

Head to head
About

RSS

This news reader allows you to control your content with advanced filtering options. Blacklist, whitelist, or graylist terms to ensure you see what matters without wasting time. Enjoy a clutter-free experience with no ads or data sharing.

Highlights
  • Advanced filtering (blacklist, whitelist, graylist)
  • Content control
  • Clutter-free reading
  • No ads, account, or data sharing
  • iCloud syncing
  • One-time in-app purchase for unlimited filters
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

A clutter-free reader app with easy-to-use but advanced filtering options, including a blacklist, a whitelist, and a graylist. You control what reaches you. Miss less while wasting less time. No ads. No account needed. No data sharing. No subscriptions. Effective Filtering: Add terms quickly to a filter list by selecting text. You can manage entire topics by selecting parts of a website link, such as '/crosswords/'. Articles containing a blacklisted term are automatically trashed. If no whitelisted term is present, articles containing a graylisted term are also automatically trashed. You can review the trash occasionally to verify your settings. Transparent And Fair Purchase Model: Start with up to 100 filter entries, then unlock unlimited filters with a one-time in-app purchase (5 USD)—no subscriptions or recurring fees. This lets you scale up to thousands of filter terms effortlessly.

About

Folo

This AI-powered tool scans the internet to find and present information relevant to your interests. It filters out noise, delivering only the knowledge you truly care about.

Highlights
  • AI-powered content filtering
  • Surfaces relevant knowledge
  • Cuts through internet noise
  • Personalized information delivery
Features
Read full description

Folo is the AI RSS reader that brings everything you follow into one calm timeline, then helps you read it. Follow blogs, news sites, newsletters, podcasts, video channels and social feeds in one place. Let AI summarize the long reads, translate the ones in other languages and read the rest aloud, so you stay informed without drowning in tabs. ONE TIMELINE FOR EVERYTHING YOU FOLLOW • Subscribe to any RSS, Atom or JSON feed, or search for sources by name • Follow sites without a feed through thousands of RSSHub routes • Explore trending feeds and curated lists to find new favorites • Import your subscriptions from any other reader with OPML • Keep things tidy with folders, stars and lists AI THAT READS WITH YOU • AI summaries: the key points of any article in seconds • AI translation: read in English, Chinese, Japanese or French, side by side with the original or on its own • Text-to-speech: listen to any article in a natural voice • Actions: summarize, translate, star or filter new entries automatically with your own rules MADE FOR EVERY FORMAT • A clean reader view that fetches the full text of articles • Dedicated layouts for social posts, pictures, videos and podcasts • Background playback for podcasts and picture-in-picture for videos YOUR READER, YOUR WAY • Light and dark themes, reading fonts, text size and line spacing • Spotlight highlights the keywords you care about • Subscriptions, read status and stars sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android and the web OPEN SOURCE, NO ADS Folo is open source and ad-free, built in the open with a community of readers and developers. FREE TO START Create a free account to follow feeds and sync them across your devices. Basic, Plus and Pro plans add more subscriptions, higher AI limits and automations. Subscriptions are billed monthly or yearly and renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://folo.is/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

RSS4 screens
Folo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: RSS at 100% against Folo's 41%. RSS also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and chart position (#155 vs unranked). Folo's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and ratings volume (55 vs 2). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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

Folo is free to download; RSS costs $4.99 up front. RSS sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Folo sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RSS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Folo has 55 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of RSS's written reviews are positive against 41% of Folo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RSS ships an update weekly, Folo fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 18, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
RSS versus Folo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRSSFolo
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (2 ratings) — better4.0 (55 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better40.8% of reviews
Number of ratings255 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#155 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB65 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperVolker KochNatural Selection Labs

Customer experience

RSS

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Folo

All ratings55 ratings
Positive74.5%
Neutral3.6%
Negative21.8%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive40.8%
Neutral14.5%
Negative44.7%

Bugs and requests

RSS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Folo

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unable to open app on Mac
  • Images not loading in articles
  • Horizontal videos not playable
  • Unresponsive click issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Change text size option
  • Add language support
  • Improve notification system
  • Enhance sharing functionality

In-app purchases

1 purchases

RSS

One-time1
  • One-Time Unlock$4.99
6 purchases

Folo

Subscriptions6
  • Folo Basic (Monthly)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Folo Plus (Monthly)7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Folo Basic (Annual)7 Days trial$49.991 Year
Show 3 more
  • Folo Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$99.991 Month
  • Folo Plus (Annual)7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Folo Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$999.991 Year

Questions

Is RSS free?
RSS costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Folo free?
Folo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, RSS or Folo?
RSS is rated higher. RSS averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Folo averages 4.0 from 55 ratings.
Do RSS or Folo have ads?
Neither RSS nor Folo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RSS or Folo?
RSS ships an update weekly, and Folo fortnightly. Most recently, RSS was updated on October 18, 2026 and Folo on October 18, 2026.

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