What are the best Feedburner alternatives?
Feedburner = Dead Man Walking
Let’s face it: Google will shut down Feedburner sooner or later. The hints are overwhelming:
- No updates in over a decade: After the takeover in 2007 it didn’t get updated anymore. On April 14 2021 (almost 14 years later!) Google announced that it will move to a new platform, however no new features promised.
- Shut down of email service: As part of the 2021 update Google stated that the email subscription service will be deprecated, which was for many its core feature.
- History of neglect: Apart from shutting down various other features over the years (e.g. API & AdSense in 2012) mishaps occurred as well, e.g. when Feedburner forgot to renew the feedburner.jp domain name in July 2012, causing thousands of Japanese bloggers to lose their subscriber base.
- Google doesn’t care: It’s only a side-product for google, so it’s going to shut it down in a similar way as it did with Google Reader, despite millions using it.
Switching to a Feedburner alternative is therefore better done sooner than later. The question is: switch to what?
What’s the best Feedburner alternative?
Below you find the best looking Feedburner alternatives (as of April 2021), based on my research. However, there is not one solution for all – it depends on what your needs are.
|
|
||||||
Key criteria |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||||||
Key criteria |
|
|
|
|
|
|
RSS SubcriptionCan readers subscribe easily via RSS? |
+ Works with all RSS readers – Branded subscription page |
+ Works with all RSS readers + No branding on subscription page |
+ Works with all RSS readers – Branded subscription page (but looks cleaner than Feedburner) |
+ Works with all RSS readers – Branded subscription page (but looks cleaner than Feedburner) |
– No RSS subscription, only email (read more) |
– No RSS subscription, only email (read more) |
Email SubscriptionDoes the service allow your readers to subscribe via email? |
– Email feature shutting down in July ‘21 |
+ Filter options (example) + Multiple delivery channels |
+ Weekly digests + Several email personalization features (read more) |
– No proprietary solution. User has to connect to a Mailchimp account (read more) |
+ Full range of email distribution and marketing services |
+ Full range of email distribution and marketing services |
CostsHow much does your wallet suffer? |
+ Free (RSS) |
+ Free basic plan for both Email and RSS (premium plans are available for more features) |
– 15USD/year for up to 25 RSS feeds – Charging from the first email subscriber, starting at 7 USD/month (see overview) |
– Only premium service, starting at 4 USD/ month + RSS and email delivery is included in the basic premium plan for unlimited RSS subscribers and up to 1k email subscribers or 100k emails sent |
+ Free for up to 2,000 email subscribers – Charging for over 2,000 email subscribers, starting at 10USD/ month (overview) |
+ Free for up to 500 email subscribers – Premium plans starting at 19 USD/ month (overview) |
StatisticsDoes the service give you insight into your subscribers? |
– RSS subscriber tracking outdated, no ongoing development – Entirely shutting down email subscriptions |
+ Solid RSS and Email subscriber tracking (example) |
+ Advanced RSS and Email subscriber tracking |
+ Advanced RSS and Email subscriber tracking |
+ Advanced Email subscriber tracking (example) – No RSS subscriber tracking |
+ Advanced Email subscriber tracking (example) – No RSS subscriber tracking |
Ease of switchHow easy it to make the switch from the current service (most likely Feedburner) to this one? |
No guide how to switch from other services to Feedburner (however also not relevant) |
+ Comprehen- -sive Feedburner migration wizards & transfer plugin (for Wordpress) + Subscribers do not have to opt-in again |
+ Feedburner migration wizards for email, RSS subscribers, including video walkthrough (learn more) + Subscriber do not have to opt-in again |
+ Feedburner migration wizards for email, RSS subscribers, including video walkthrough (learn more) + Subscriber do not have to opt-in again |
+ Subscribers do not have to opt-in again – Only email migration wizard from Feedburner |
– Subscriber have to opt-in again – Only email migration wizard from Feedburner |
SupportHow easy it to get support? |
– No support anymore |
+ Email support – No Chat or phone support |
+ Email support + Chat and phone support |
+ Email support – No Chat or phone support |
+ Email support – No Chat or phone support |
+ Email support + Chat and phone support |
Conclusion |
Feedburner will close sooner or later & potential subscriber loss Switch ASAP |
Good looking alternative with free plan and many features |
Long track record with many RSS and email features, but premium only |
Easy-to-use email and RSS features, but premium only Excellent if you‘re mainly looking for an RSS solution and have some $$$ to spend |
Sophisticated email tools and free up to 2,000 subscribers, but no RSS solution Very good for email (esp. small blogs), but no RSS solution |
Sophisticated email tools, but premium only and no RSS solution |
Emerging Feedburner alternatives
An interesting emerging alternative is Feedio which has a unique approach: instead of following certain blogs, it’s all about following authors (no matter on which blog they posted). The service is free.Second tier Feedburner alternatives
Beyond the main alternatives there’s a range of services which partially cover what Feedburner does (or used to do). They are not full alternatives, however maybe you still find them useful.
Services with focus on Email delivery
Several RSS2Email services popped up when Feedburner showed first signs of decline, the most notable among them are:
- Madmini This email newsletter service includes RSS-to-Email and is competitively priced compared to larger services like Mailchimp. It also integrates with other services like Google Analytics and seems to be a viable option for small to medium sized blogs. Read this detailed review.
- Nourish Another RSS-to-Email service with free plans for smaller bloggers. However, they do not seem to be very active anymore.
- Wordpress Plugins I wouldn’t feel too comfortable with relying on a plugin-only-service (limited features and reliability concerns), however they’re quick to install which might be appealing to part-time bloggers. The notable among those are Jetpack, and Subscribe2.
RSS feed management services
Other RSS feed management services like Rapidfeeds and the Wordpress plugin Simple Feed Stats focus on the pure basics: allowing people to subscribe with their RSS readers (no separate subscription page) and delivering the subscriber count to publishers.
The Bottom line
Feedburner will shut down, and the sooner you switch the less hassle (and risks) you’ll have.
If you used Feedburner to handle both your RSS and email, then the two top choices are the re-launched follow.it (formerly SpecificFeeds) or Feedblitz.
If you only used Feedburner for your RSS Feed, then either use follow.it or Feedblitz, or, if you have a significant number of subscribers, consider going premium with Feedpress, as it offers fancier reporting tools and several other features.
If you were thinking about taking your email newsletter to the next level anyway, and are willing to spend a bit of time on it (it’s not as easy as an RSS2Email solution) then consider using Feedblitz or Feedpress for RSS, and Mailchimp (good for small blogs, as they don’t charge up to 2,000 subsribers) or Aweber for email.
In any case, I hope you found this overview useful. If you have comments or questions, or if you want to place a banner ad on this page, please get in touch with me at
steve@feedburner-alternatives·com!
[Bonus:] The List
Sometimes I get asked «What’s the best Feedburner Alternative?» and as mentioned above I don’t think there is «one best» – it always depends on what you need.
Still, if you force me to pick, here is my choice:
- Follow.it: Free basic plan (unlimited subscribers), many features (both for publishers and subscribers), nice statistics
- Feedblitz: Long-established, premium but still somewhat affordable-ish, solid statistics. Not so good in RSS but email is more important anyway (you asked me for my view!)
- FeedPress: Super-professional for RSS, and if you have a Mailchimp account integration with email seems easy
- Feedio: Quite new but I like the idea that you can follow authors across different sites. Plus, it’s free.
- Mailchimp: The biggie in the email scene, free up to 2,000 subscribers, many tailoring options (however only for separate newsletters you have to create yourself)
- Madmini: Niche player, but seems decent (I’d prefer it over the monster Aweber also because of price)