Flipboard’s algorithm decides what you read. Here are the best news apps that put you in control — from Feedly’s AI-powered RSS reader to Google News’s free personalized headlines.
Each app below addresses a specific gap in Flipboard's offering. We picked them based on real user review patterns and feature differentiation.
The power user’s alternative to Flipboard. Subscribe to any RSS feed, blog, or newsletter. Leo, the AI assistant, prioritizes and summarizes articles. Pro+ adds AI-driven smart feeds that filter content by custom criteria.
Explore Feedly data →Google’s news aggregator uses AI to personalize your feed across topics and local news. Full Coverage shows multiple perspectives on any story. Free with no subscription, plus an audio briefing feature for hands-free news.
Explore Google News data →Built into every iPhone and iPad. Free tier offers personalized news; Apple News+ ($12.99/mo) unlocks hundreds of magazines, newspapers, and The Athletic. Family Sharing supports up to six people. Audio stories and daily crosswords included.
Explore Apple News data →A Feedly competitor with powerful automation. Create rules to auto-tag, filter, or forward articles. Monitors RSS feeds, social media, and newsletters. The free tier is generous, and premium plans start lower than Feedly.
Explore Inoreader data →Teaches itself what you like by letting you thumbs-up or thumbs-down stories, authors, and tags. Open-source and self-hostable. The premium plan is a flat $36/year with no feature tiers or upsells.
Explore NewsBlur data →Built by Instagram’s co-founders, Artifact uses AI to learn your interests and surface relevant articles. Community-driven summaries and a clean, modern interface. Strong at surfacing niche content that Flipboard’s broader algorithm misses.
Explore Artifact data →We identified these alternatives by analyzing review patterns across news and magazine apps. Users leaving Flipboard most commonly cite algorithm-driven content, lack of RSS support, and paywalled articles as their reasons for switching.
Google News is the strongest free alternative for casual readers — AI-personalized headlines, Full Coverage for multiple perspectives, and an audio briefing feature. For power users, Feedly’s free tier supports up to 100 RSS sources.
Flipboard’s magazine-style interface is still the most visually appealing news reader available. It’s best for casual browsing and topic discovery. But if you want control over your sources or AI-powered filtering, Feedly or Inoreader are stronger choices.
Yes. Feedly, Inoreader, and NewsBlur are all built around RSS. You can subscribe to any website’s RSS feed, blog, podcast, or newsletter. This gives you complete control over your news sources — something Flipboard doesn’t offer.
We analyze App Store metadata, review patterns, and user migration data to surface the best alternatives objectively — no sponsored placements or affiliate rankings.
Finance and Micro-Investing alternatives.
Encrypted Collaboration alternatives.
Website Building and CMS alternatives.
Health & Fitness alternatives.