Comparison

RSS vs Flat RSS

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

Head to head
About

RSS

Consolidate your favorite websites into a single, streamlined feed reader. Enjoy fast navigation, automatic feed detection, and offline translation for articles. Keep your reading organized with folders and sync your progress across devices.

Highlights
  • Automatic feed detection
  • Organize feeds with folders
  • Fast article navigation
  • Background refresh & push notifications
  • Bookmark articles
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Offline auto-translation
Read full description

RSS - Article Reader is a clean, fast feed reader that brings all your favorite websites together in one place. Designed to feel right at home on your iPhone. A clean interface, smooth performance, and a reading experience built for speed. • Wide Format Support Supports every version of RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed. Just paste a website URL and feeds are detected automatically. • Organize with Folders Group your feeds into folders to keep your subscriptions tidy and easy to navigate. • Read Through Articles Fast Navigate between articles and mark as read with a single tap. Every button is placed for effortless reading flow. • Never Miss an Update Background refresh and push notifications keep you informed when your favorite sites publish new content. • Bookmark Articles Save articles to read later and revisit them anytime. • Sync Across Devices iCloud keeps your subscriptions, read status, and bookmarks in sync. Switch phones without missing a beat. • Easy Migration Switch from another reader with OPML import and export. • Auto-translate foreign articles Translate articles with one tap from the detail view. The feature is powered by Apple's translation engine and works offline too.

About

Flat RSS

Consolidate all your reading, watching, and listening into one calm, chronological feed. Save articles, videos, and podcasts from various sources, with offline access and cross-device sync. Enjoy a private, ad-free experience.

Highlights
  • Unified feed for RSS, podcasts, videos, social media
  • Save articles, videos, and links to Stash
  • Offline access for saved content
  • Cross-device iCloud sync
  • Ad-free and privacy-focused experience
  • Customizable feed filtering
Features
Read full description

Flat is one calm place for everything you read, watch, and listen to. Flat brings RSS, podcasts, videos, social feeds, and saved links together in one quiet place. No unread counts. No pressure. No algorithmic ranking. FOLLOW YOUR FAVORITE SOURCES • RSS, Atom, JSON feeds, podcasts, YouTube, Reddit, Mastodon, Bluesky, and more • Paste a URL or keyword and Flat finds the right source • Browse a clean chronological timeline • Filter by source, focus or hide feeds, and filter out unwanted keywords SAVE ANYTHING • Save articles, videos, podcasts, and links to your Stash • Save links from any app, browser, or Flat browser extension • Auto-stash items from feeds you never want to miss • Keep saved items until you are ready to come back LISTEN AND WATCH • Play podcasts and videos with playback progress synced across devices • Build your own audio and video queue • Use chapters and a sleep timer AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE • iPhone, iPad, and Mac • Automatic iCloud sync across devices • Offline access for saved articles, audio, and video podcasts PRIVACY FIRST • No ads • No tracking • No account required • Your reading data is not used for advertising FLAT PRO Start free with Stash, saved links from other apps, and up to 30 feeds. Upgrade to Flat Pro for unlimited feeds, so new articles, podcasts, and videos from all your favorite sources appear automatically in your timeline. A free trial is available. Just your content, at your pace. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://justasimple.app/privacy

Screenshots

RSS4 screens
Flat RSS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Flat RSS at 100% against RSS's 50%. Flat RSS also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (18.6 vs 26.0). RSS's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price, update cadence and ads 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. Flat RSS sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. RSS asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RSS ships an update every 2 weeks, Flat RSS every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
RSS versus Flat RSS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRSSFlat RSS
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS26.018.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB19 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperClimb AppRene Fischer

Customer experience

RSS

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

Flat RSS

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

RSS

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Flat RSS

Subscriptions2
  • Flat Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Flat Pro Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Flat Pro Lifetime$44.99

Questions

Is RSS free?
RSS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Flat RSS free?
Flat RSS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do RSS or Flat RSS have ads?
Neither RSS nor Flat RSS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RSS or Flat RSS?
RSS ships an update every 2 weeks, and Flat RSS every 10 days. Most recently, RSS was updated on October 10, 2026 and Flat RSS on October 2, 2026.

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