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I currently use Google Reader for all my feeds and am looking for an alternative. My only requirement is that the service store a copy of the text of the feed just like Google does. If the feed site is inaccessible to any computer I am at as long as the reader site is available I can see the feed.

Ok, so as it turns out I apparently do have another requirement, that it be a cloud solution.

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I think you didn't state why you want to change away from Google Reader, although Google Reader satisfies your requirement. – codingbear Jul 16 '09 at 20:29
My reasons are ethical not technical, which is why I left them out. – Leigh Riffel Jul 16 '09 at 21:07
If your ethical reasons are about valuing privacy, most cloud solutions probably won't help you. – Christian Aug 8 '09 at 15:55
You are correct Christian, that cloud solutions don't help with privacy, but that is not my issue. – Leigh Riffel Aug 10 '09 at 21:24
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11 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

The other major feed reader: Bloglines

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try out the beta interface if you don't like the classic one: beta.bloglines.com – Sam Hasler Jul 16 '09 at 20:25
I use BlogLines, but they have recently started to sell out with annoying adds (Ask.com) in the feeds. I'm okay with responsible advertising, but in this case I find the ads get in the way. – LeopardSkinPillBoxHat Jul 17 '09 at 0:15
The ads are only in the classic interface; the beta is free of them for the moment. – Sam Hasler Jul 17 '09 at 10:46
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up vote 3 down vote

I use NewsGator, which I sync to NetNewsWire on my Mac, and the NetNewsWire app on my iPhone.

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Unfortunately they have just shut down their free service, ending in August, and replaced it with Google Reader. – Diago Aug 1 '09 at 16:21
The main reason I was using NewsGator over Google Reader was because of its ability to sync w/ NetNewsWire. I'm back on Google Reader now that NetNewsWire sync with it. – Andy Aug 2 '09 at 12:52
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up vote 3 down vote

I am currently using Fever which is pretty cool if you subscribe to more than 100 feeds but it isn't free. Tiny Tiny RSS is a good open source alternative. Both options require that you can host PHP and MySQL.

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I definitely have over 100 feeds and don't want to pay. – Leigh Riffel Sep 13 '10 at 15:26
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up vote 2 down vote

I've been using FeedReader for a while.

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Nice, but not in the cloud. – Leigh Riffel Jul 30 '09 at 3:53
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up vote 1 down vote

You can install Google Gears, and it will enable you to use Google Reader offline. You can find more information here.

The reason I prefer Google Reader to other offline/desktop RSS readers is that it keeps it in sync on all the computers I access Google Reader from. I think that Google Gears will solve your problem, and you won't have to switch.

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By site inaccessible I meant that the computer I was using could not access the site not that the site was temporarily unavailable. Using different computers with different filters and site blocking software it is easier to make sure I can get to one feed reader site rather than the 100+ blogs sites, which is why I like the way google caches the text on their site. Does that make more sense? – Leigh Riffel Jul 16 '09 at 21:11
Yes it does, I have blogs that are blocked by the company web filter, but that I can read through Google Reader :) – Benjol Oct 21 '09 at 5:36
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up vote 1 down vote

I've only really started reading a lot of rss and Atom feeds, but Sage for Firefox satisfies your needs and is a good lightweight reader. I've had no problems with it.

One downside is that your RSS reader is no longer in the cloud, as Google Reader is and is now localized to your browser.

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Sage was my feed reader before Google Reader. It was great, but Google Reader was better because it was in the cloud. Thanks for the suggestion. – Leigh Riffel Jul 27 '09 at 3:35
I should have also said that Google Reader caches the text of feeds that may be blocked by firewalls. – Leigh Riffel Sep 13 '10 at 15:30
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up vote 1 down vote

NewsGator recently announced they were going to start using Google Reader as the syncing backend for all their products..

Basically you can use NetNewsWire and FeedDemon as local/offline interfaces to Google Reader

There is a NetNewsWire beta which has the syncing, and FeedDemon update shouldn't be far behind

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up vote 0 down vote

If ethics is your issue (and I can't say I understand why), why not host your own feed aggregator on your own server? Self-loathing aside, you'd be the master of your own domain. reBlog is getting a little long in the tooth, but I used to really enjoy using it. I've also used MonkeyChow at various times.

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The issue was their outspoken position on California Proposition 8, but that didn't matter to the question, which is why I left it out. Hosting my own would probably be overkill. – Leigh Riffel Jul 27 '09 at 3:40
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up vote 0 down vote

NewsBlur is a nice alternative, although it only allows 64 feeds in the free version.

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up vote 0 down vote

FastLadder is similar in many ways to Google Reader, but the entire feed must be marked as read or unread rather than individual posts.

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up vote 0 down vote

FeedShow is in beta, but looks promising. For not it marks the entire feed as read as soon as the first post is viewed.

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