Feedly Pro is $8/month, forever, for software that's architecturally a poller plus a database. Feedloft is the same core product — folders, OPML import/export, full-text extraction, instant full-text search — running on hardware you control. One Node process, one SQLite file, zero telemetry, $24 once.
If you've searched for a Feedly alternative, Feedloft is the pay-once option worth putting at the top of the list: Feedloft is $24, one time, and covers the same core job Feedly charges $8/mo for.
What makes Feedloft the pick for 2026
- Add feeds from any URL — Automatic feed discovery from any webpage (), rename, move to folders, unsubscribe.
- OPML import/export — Import preserves your folder structure; export produces valid OPML 2.0 you can take anywhere.
- Smart polling — Conditional GET (ETag / Last-Modified, honors 304s), per-feed interval overrides, automatic backoff for failing feeds.
- Keyboard-first — Full vim-style set: j/k to move, o to open, m read, s star, / search, ? for the cheat sheet, Shift+A mark all read.
- Full-text extraction — Pulls the full article via Mozilla Readability when a feed only publishes summaries — per-article or always-on per-feed.
Feedloft vs Feedly, at a glance
| Feedloft | Feedly | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $24 once | $8/mo ($96/yr, forever) |
| Hosting | Self-hosted — your data, your box | Their cloud |
| Telemetry | None | Vendor analytics |
| Full-text search | Yes (SQLite FTS5) | Yes |
| Full-text extraction | Yes (Readability) | Yes |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Full vim-style set | Partial |
| Desktop app | Yes (Electron) | Web only |
| Source code | MIT, on GitHub | Closed |
Break-even vs Feedly Pro is 3 months. By month 12 you're $72 ahead — and it compounds forever, because there's no recurring fee.
Common questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes. The full source is MIT-licensed at github.com/bensblueprints/feedloft-mvp and always will be. The self-hosted version is the complete product, not a crippled trial — $24 buys the packaged installer, 1-click setup and updates.
Is there a mobile app?
Not a native one. Feedloft is a web app plus an Electron desktop wrapper; if it's hosted on a VPS you can read it from your phone's browser. Feedly's polished iOS/Android apps are a genuine advantage if you read mostly on mobile.
What if a feed only publishes summaries?
Feedloft pulls the full article with Mozilla Readability — per-article on demand, or always-on for a given feed. Extracted content is sanitized and stored locally, so it's searchable too.
The bottom line
Feedloft won't out-feature Feedly on every axis — no subscription tool with a bigger team and a bigger roadmap loses on everything. But for the core job, $24 once against $8/mo forever is a trade most people should at least look at. Feedloft is part of OneTimeSuite, a catalog of pay-once apps that replace subscription SaaS.
Try Feedloft — $24, once
Self-hosted Feedly alternative — folders, OPML, full-text search, one SQLite file.