Newsblur
NewsBlur is a bootstrapped, founder-owned personal news reader founded in 2009 that aggregates RSS feeds, websites, newsletters, and podcasts for individual power users, monetizing via tiered subscriptions ($36-$348/year) with proprietary Intelligence Training and 2026-launched AI features like Ask AI and Daily Briefing.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Newsblur does
NewsBlur is a personal news reader founded in 2009 by Samuel Clay and operated as a bootstrapped, founder-owned company headquartered in San Francisco with a secondary development presence in Western Massachusetts. The platform aggregates RSS feeds, websites without native RSS (via its Web Feeds change-detection feature), email newsletters, YouTube channels, and podcasts into a single unified reading surface available on the web, native iOS, native Android, and native macOS apps, plus a self-hosted Docker option under the MIT license. Its core technical differentiator is Intelligence Training, a personalization system that combines exact-match and natural-language classifiers with image classifiers, super dislikes, and per-classifier notifications, all trained on per-user feedback (likes, dislikes, natural-language descriptions); semantic discovery uses the all-MiniLM-L6-v2 sentence transformer, and 2026 product launches added Ask AI (LLM-powered Q&A across Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok), Daily Briefing (AI-generated personalized summaries), and Story Clustering.
The business model is a four-tier consumer subscription: Free (64 sites), Premium at $36/year (1,024 sites), Premium Archive at $99/year (4,096 sites with AI features and full archive), and Premium Pro at $29/month (10,000 sites with 5-minute fetching and regex training). Distribution is entirely direct-to-consumer and product-led: self-serve sign-up on newsblur.com, the Apple App Store, Google Play, the Mac App Store, and self-hosted Docker installs, with a 30-day free premium trial and no credit card required to start. Real-time operational metrics on the homepage show ~3,578 premium subscribers, ~3,192 standard users, ~5M feeds fetched per day, and ~403K stories shared per day. The company has no external venture funding (one Y Combinator participation in 2012 with $0 raised), operates with 1-10 employees, and sells exclusively to individuals and SMB self-serve buyers — primarily information power users, journalists, researchers, and former Google Reader migrants in the RSS/tech community.
Newsblur firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Newsblur
- Legal name
- NewsBlur
- Website
- https://newsblur.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- NewsBlur is a bootstrapped, founder-owned personal news reader founded in 2009 that aggregates RSS feeds, websites, newsletters, and podcasts for individual power users, monetizing via tiered subscriptions ($36-$348/year) with proprietary Intelligence Training and 2026-launched AI features like Ask AI and Daily Briefing.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Newsblur industry classification
Industry- Product category
- RSS News Reader
- NAICS
- Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290), Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- RSS/Feed Readers & Subscription Aggregators (MPACAKAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Media & Content Personalization (News, Video, Music, Podcasts) (HDAAAGAB), Newsletters & Email-Based News Publishers (B2B/B2C) (MPAJADAJ)
Keywords
Where Newsblur is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Newsblur business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Premium Subscription: Tiered subscription model with four levels: Free (64 sites), Premium ($36/year, 1,024 sites), Premium Archive ($99/year, 4,096 sites), and Premium Pro ($29/month, 10,000 sites). Higher tiers unlock advanced features like AI, archive, notifications, and high-frequency fetching.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Free | Free tier with 64 sites and basic features |
| Subscription | Annual | Premium at $36/year - 1,024 sites |
| Subscription | Annual | Premium Archive at $99/year - 4,096 sites |
| Subscription | Monthly | Premium Pro at $29/month - 10,000 sites |
| Freemium | Free | DIY Self-Hosted - free |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels5 records
Newsblur product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NewsBlur is a personal news reader that lets people follow any website via RSS or generated web feeds, then surfaces what matters through AI-powered intelligence training that learns user preferences by author, tag, title, full text, and image content. The platform includes Ask AI for story Q&A, Daily Briefing for AI-curated summaries, story clustering to deduplicate coverage, full-text search, and social sharing via blurblogs. It is delivered as a web application and native iOS, Android, and macOS apps, with an open-source MIT-licensed self-hosted option.
Product overview
NewsBlur is a personal news reader platform offering web, iOS, Android, and macOS applications with a tiered subscription model. The product portfolio includes four pricing tiers: Free (64 sites), Premium at $36/year (1,024 sites, enhanced search), Premium Archive at $99/year (4,096 sites, AI features, full archive), and Premium Pro at $29/month (10,000 sites, 5-minute fetching). Core differentiating features include Intelligence Training (ML-powered content filtering using natural language classifiers, image analysis, and user feedback), Ask AI (conversational Q&A with multiple model support), Daily Briefing (AI-generated personalized summaries), Web Feeds (turning any site into RSS), and Story Clustering. Developer tools include a REST API, CLI tool (newsblur-cli), MCP Server for AI agent integration, and AI Skill package. A self-hosted Docker option is available under MIT license.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Blurblog: Public social sharing platform within NewsBlur where users can share stories with their network
- NewsBlur Intelligence Training
- Ask AI
- Daily Briefing
- Web Feeds
- Story Clustering
Products and services
- NewsBlur Web App Web-based personal news reader with RSS/web feed support, intelligence training, social blurblog features, Ask AI, Daily Briefing, full-text search, story clustering, and full feature parity with native apps.
- NewsBlur iOS App Native iPhone and iPad application built from the ground up for iOS, with swipe gestures, offline reading, intelligence training, sharing, and a major 2026 redesign.
- NewsBlur Android App Native Android application rebuilt in 2026 with redesigned reading experience, Ask AI, Discover Related Sites, Daily Briefing, and multiple theme options.
- NewsBlur macOS App Native macOS application with news notifications, full theme support including auto dark mode, gesture-based navigation, and native training capabilities.
- NewsBlur Self-Hosted (DIY) Self-hosted open-source edition of NewsBlur distributed under the MIT license via GitHub, installable with a single Docker command and customizable via Claude Code, offering complete data ownership.
- NewsBlur REST API Public REST API exposing authentication, feeds, stories, social features, intelligence classifiers, and import/export, authenticated via session cookies or OAuth.
- NewsBlur CLI Tool Command-line interface (newsblur-cli) for managing feeds, reading stories, training classifiers, and accessing briefings from the terminal, installable via uv pip with JSON output support.
- NewsBlur MCP Server Model Context Protocol server that connects AI agents (Claude, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf) directly to a user's NewsBlur account, exposing 22 tools for reading, actions, intelligence training, and discovery.
- NewsBlur AI Skill AI skill package for Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf that provides context-efficient CLI access to NewsBlur commands via npx skills add samuelclay/newsblur-cli-skill.
Quantifiable outcome
- Real-time stats show 5M+ feeds fetched daily across user base
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Newsblur
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Newsblur technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability9 records
Feature8 records
Newsblur partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Newsblur competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Miniflux: Self-hostable, minimalist RSS reader popular with technical users. Comparable in ethos to NewsBlur's self-hosted tier, targeting the same privacy-conscious developer audience.
- NetNewsWire: Free, open-source Mac/iOS RSS reader that already integrates with NewsBlur as a sync client. Partial overlap as a frontend that competes for casual users while complementing NewsBlur for power users.
- Reeder: Premium iOS/macOS RSS client that syncs with NewsBlur. Functions as a competing native frontend for the same content; partial overlap depending on which side hosts the user's account.
Direct peers
- Feedly: Leading subscription-based RSS reader and news aggregator with AI-powered curation (Leo AI). Direct competitor to NewsBlur with similar pricing tiers and target power-user audience, though Feedly is venture-backed and significantly larger.
- Inoreader: Subscription RSS reader offering advanced rules, automation, and active feed monitoring. Closely comparable to NewsBlur Premium and Archive tiers with overlapping power-user positioning.
- Feedbin: Paid RSS reader emphasizing simplicity, privacy, and developer APIs. Comparable subscription economics and target audience as NewsBlur, frequently discussed as alternative.
- The Old Reader: Subscription RSS reader positioned as Google Reader alternative with social sharing features. Competes directly for the same Google Reader refugee segment NewsBlur serves.
- Readwise Reader: Read-later and RSS hybrid product with AI-assisted highlights and digest features. Comparable power-user audience, premium subscription model, and focus on serious readers.
Broad incumbents
- Flipboard: Large-scale content aggregation and personalization platform with magazine-style UI. Overlaps with NewsBlur's curation and discovery mission but targets a much broader consumer audience.
- Pocket: Save-for-later and content discovery service owned by Mozilla. Adjacent in the personal content reading space, though Pocket focuses on delayed reading rather than real-time feed aggregation.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Newsblur social profiles
Digital presenceNewsblur financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Newsblur leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Newsblur funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Newsblur M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Newsblur
What does Newsblur do?
NewsBlur is a personal news reader that lets people follow any website via RSS or generated web feeds, then surfaces what matters through AI-powered intelligence training that learns user preferences by author, tag, title, full text, and image content. The platform includes Ask AI for story Q&A, Daily Briefing for AI-curated summaries, story clustering to deduplicate coverage, full-text search, and social sharing via blurblogs. It is delivered as a web application and native iOS, Android, and macOS apps, with an open-source MIT-licensed self-hosted option.
Is Newsblur a public or private company?
Newsblur is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Newsblur founded?
Newsblur was founded in 2009. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Newsblur based?
Newsblur is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Newsblur make money?
One revenue line is on record: premium Subscription.
Who are Newsblur's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Miniflux, NetNewsWire and Reeder. Direct peers are Feedly, Inoreader, Feedbin, The Old Reader and Readwise Reader. Broad incumbents are Flipboard and Pocket.
Does Newsblur have an API?
Yes. REST API with endpoints for authentication, feeds, stories, social features, feed management, intelligence classifiers, and import/export. No API key required but authentication via session cookies or OAuth (OAuth requires requesting client ID/secret via email). Supports reading feeds, managing subscriptions, training classifiers, sharing stories, and accessing social features. Open source implementation available on GitHub. Developer documentation is at newsblur.com/api.
What industry is Newsblur in?
Newsblur's product category is RSS News Reader. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAKAD, RSS/Feed Readers & Subscription Aggregators, with a secondary code of HDAAAGAB, Media & Content Personalization (News, Video, Music, Podcasts). Its NAICS code is 516210 and its SIC code is 7374.