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ReviewsIs The Old Reader actually free?
How free80/100
Value4/10
How these scores work
Free Score (0–100) follows a fixed rubric: cards up front, auto-billing, hard time cutoffs, withheld core features, and paying with your data or attention all deduct points. 90–100 truly free · 70–89 free forever · 45–69 squeezed · 15–44 trial mechanics · under 15 fake or gone. Value (0–10) is editorial: real-world worth of the free offering measured against its paid equivalent. Full rubric on the methodology page.
Yes — it exists specifically to be what Google Reader was: simple, fast, 100 feeds free. Premium is a modest ~$3/month for search and a higher cap.
What it’s worth
It replaces a product people still mourn, for $0.
What you get free
- Follow up to 100 feeds in a clean, Google-Reader-style UI
- Sharing and comments with friends who also use it
- Import your subscriptions from any reader (OPML)
In practice: the Google Reader experience, alive and free at 100 feeds.
Drawbacks
- Web-first, thin mobile story
- No power features by design
- 100-feed cap
Also paywalled
- More than 100 feeds
- Full-text search
- Faster feed refresh and no ads
Free facts
| Verdict | Free Forever |
| Card required | No |
| Auto-bills | Only if you subscribe |
| Account | Required (or sign in with Google/Facebook) |
| Limits | Up to 100 feeds; search and no-ads need the ~$3/month premium |
| The real cost | Nothing for 100 feeds and the classic reading experience. |
The catch
Deliberately basic — no AI, no automation, minimal apps (it's web-first). If you want power features, this isn't where they live.
The smart play
- Export/import via OPML — your subscriptions are portable between every reader on this list
More info — tap to expand
Why do people still want Google Reader?
Because a chronological list of exactly what you chose to follow — no ranking, no engagement bait — turned out to be the healthiest way to read the web. RSS never died; the readers just got quieter.
Last checked: July 2026 · Verdict: Free Forever — a real permanent free plan. signup and fair limits — but no clock and no card.
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