[amatriain]

Hi guys.

I've released Feedbunch, a web app to read RSS and Atom feeds similar to the disappeared google reader. Signups are currently open and it will be totally free for at least as long as it is in the beta phase.

It aims to be simple to use, hiding unnecessary complexity from the user as much as possible (feed autodiscovery, detecting when a feed has changed its URL, etc). It is responsive and supports being installed to the home screen in mobile devices, behaving almost like a native app.

Feedbunch is opensource under the MIT license. The backend is a json REST API built with Ruby on Rails, and the frontend is a mix of Bootstrap and AngularJS.

I'm very interested in hearing your opinion and I hope you find it useful.

[detaro]

Any chance to get a demo login or something, to try the actual interface without creating an account?

[amatriain]

Sure. Use this:

email: [e-mail]

password: feedbunch-demo

[webwanderings]

Keyboard shortcut is important for sure. BTW, what will you be charging in the future, any estimate?

The thing about using any hosted RSS reader is (which basically means you are getting used to), that you cannot tell if the service will exist tomorrow or not. Feedly is a piece of crap today as it was the same yesterday. They just had a buzz going for them since they provided relatively faster service compared to any other around the time of GReader's demise. Compared to Feedly, Inoreader has lots of bells and whistles ... but ultimately, the notice is on the wall anyway. You are not going to be making a lot of money selling this as a product. There is hardly a chance that any RSS feed reader could become a hot property for any big company to grab. So not sure why my individual OPML be of any value to you.

Hope you follow.

[amatriain]

At the moment I'm afraid I can't offer an estimate of the user fees once out of the beta phase. The beta will among other things serve as a stress test, giving me an idea of the server resources necessary for the service. That will give me an idea of the costs associated with running the SaaS, which will help decide the user fees. For the moment I simply have too little data, sorry. I intend it to be very affordable, if it helps.

I understand you being worried that a service you use may disappear. But realistically that can happen with absolutely any SaaS. Being backed by a big company is no guarantee in this regard, as Google has shown with google reader and other services. My intention is to keep Feedbunch running for as long as possible, but I was also burned by the GReader shutdown so I understand your concern. The best I can offer is this: Feedbunch has an OPML export feature, so any user can take his subscriptions to any other feed reader that supports OPML whenever he wants. That's the best way to avoid vendor lock-in: to work with interoperable standards so that you can take your data elsewhere if necessary. And of course being opensource you can self-host it.

In case you're interested I originally built Feedbunch for myself when GReader closed down, because I was unhappy with the alternatives. I've been using it for my feed reading needs for some time. Offering it as a SaaS is an extension of that, but the project started as a way for me to have a reader I liked. I'm not aiming to catch the eye of a big company here, but to run a good service.

That was a bit all over the place but I hope I addressed your questions.

[detaro]

Thanks!

looks very sleek, the only thing that would be a deal-breaker for me are keyboard shortcuts for navigation (or maybe I just didn't figure them out?)

[amatriain]

Keyboard shortcuts are in the roadmap, but not yet implemented.

It's an often requested feature, though, so I'll prioritize it :)

[wonjun]

This is very nice, congratulations on shipping! This being open source is a huge plus.