RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds allow you to automatically pull in content from other websites to display on your own. This is an excellent way to curate and share content that your audience will find valuable.
Using an RSS feed plugin for WordPress makes it easy to aggregate and display feeds without any coding. In this post, we‘ll compare the top 9 WordPress RSS feed plugins to help you find the right one for your needs.
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Why Use an RSS Feed Plugin for WordPress?
Here are some of the benefits of using a WordPress RSS feed plugin:
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Automatically display content – Use RSS to pull in latest posts, news, videos etc. from around the web to share with your users.
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Increase pageviews – Adding engaging external content can help increase time on site and pageviews.
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Curate content – Carefully choosing which external feeds to display allows you to curate content for your audience.
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fresh content – New content is automatically pulled in from RSS feeds ensuring your site stays updated.
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Save time – No need to manually look for and embed content from external sites.
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Customize display – Most plugins allow you to customize the look and feel to match your theme‘s style.
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Monetize content – Some plugins integrate affiliate links or advertising to help you monetize external content.
Now that you know why you need an RSS feed plugin, let‘s take a look at the top options available.
1. WP RSS Aggregator
WP RSS Aggregator is the best WordPress plugin to turn any site into a content aggregator. It makes it easy to import, merge and display RSS feeds without coding.
With this plugin, you can fetch content from your other sites, 3rd party sources, and blogs. You can even import content as blog posts and store them in your WordPress database.
WP RSS Aggregator is great for curating job listings, real estate listings, news articles, or top posts from your favorite blogs.
Their premium add-ons allow fetching full content from feeds that only include excerpts. However, scraping full content may lead to copyright issues, so caution is advised.
Pricing: Starts from $59 per year including 1 year of support and updates.
2. Smash Balloon Instagram Feed
To display Instagram photos from your account, Smash Balloon Instagram Feed is the best plugin. Since Instagram doesn‘t allow RSS, this plugin uses the API to pull your photos.
It‘s very easy to set up and comes with multiple layouts and styles. The feeds are mobile responsive so they look great on all devices.
You can also create feeds filtered by hashtags or link Instagram posts to WooCommerce product pages to boost sales.
It also supports Instagram Stories which you can display in a popup for increased engagement.
Pricing: Free version with limited features. Instagram Feed Pro is $49/year for one site. All Smash Balloon plugins for unlimited sites is $299/year.
3. Smash Balloon Custom Facebook Feed
For showcasing Facebook content, Smash Balloon Custom Facebook Feed is the most popular plugin with over 200,000 installs.
It allows you to easily embed posts from your Facebook pages and groups right on your WordPress site.
Showcasing your Facebook updates can increase engagement which in turn improves their reach and traffic back to Facebook.
The plugin makes it easy to connect multiple Facebook pages and groups in one or more feeds on your site using beautiful layouts.
Pricing: Free version with limited features. Custom Facebook Feed Pro is $49/year for one site. All Smash Balloon plugins for unlimited sites is $299/year.
4. All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
AIOSEO is the most popular WordPress SEO plugin, used on over 3 million websites.
Apart from comprehensive SEO features, AIOSEO also allows you to add custom content to the beginning or end of your RSS feeds.
This can help prevent content scraping by requiring attribution or linking back to your site from republished RSS content.
Pricing: Free version available with basic features. Pro version starts at $49.50 per year to access full SEO and RSS customization features.
5. Smash Balloon Twitter Feeds
To display Twitter content on your WordPress site, Smash Balloon Twitter Feeds is the best plugin with over 60,000 active installs.
It allows you to easily embed Twitter feeds from profiles, hashtags, lists, likes, and more to add social proof to your site.
The plugin comes packed with customizable layouts like Masonry, slider, grid, and supports infinite scroll, caching, and other great features.
Engagement buttons allow visitors to like, retweet, and reply without leaving your page so your tweets get more visibility.
Pricing: Free version with limited features. Twitter Feeds Pro is $49/year for one site. All Smash Balloon plugins for unlimited sites is $299/year.
6. Smash Balloon Feeds for YouTube
To showcase your YouTube videos on WordPress, Smash Balloon‘s YouTube Feeds plugin is the top choice with over 30,000 active installs.
It allows you to automatically display your latest uploaded videos using beautiful layouts like masonry grid, responsive gallery, list view, and more.
The plugin supports live streams allowing you to show upcoming and live events right on your site. You can also create merged and filtered feeds from multiple channels.
Custom actions like displaying related videos or affiliate links after each video can help boost engagement and sales.
Pricing: Free version with limited features. YouTube Feeds Pro is $49/year for one site. All Smash Balloon plugins for unlimited sites is $299/year.
7. Feedzy RSS Feeds
Feedzy RSS Feeds is a great RSS aggregation plugin for WordPress with over 20,000 active installs.
It can fetch content from unlimited RSS feeds and display them easily using templates and custom layouts. Posts blend in seamlessly with your content instead of looking out of place.
Feedzy also integrates affiliate links so you can monetize external content. It also comes with an article spinner to automatically rewrite imported posts, but use caution as this may violate copyright.
Pricing: Starts from $59/year for single site. Lifetime deal available starting from $159.
8. Featured Image in RSS Feed
If you want to add eye-catching featured images to your RSS feed, then Featured Image in RSS Feed is a great free plugin with over 20,000 installs.
It allows you to select from different image sizes and styles for your RSS feed without writing any code.
Featured images allow your content to stand out in news aggregators and email subscriptions. The plugin uses proper formatting for maximum compatibility.
Pricing: Free basic version. Paid version with additional features starts at $59.88/year for one site license.
9. Super RSS Reader
Super RSS Reader makes it easy to display RSS feeds in your sidebar using a simple widget.
It supports displaying post titles in a news ticker layout which is great for sites that want to showcase breaking news from other sources.
You can also create tabbed layouts to display feeds from multiple sites. The widget includes featured image support, styles, and color options.
Pricing: Free
We hope this detailed comparison of the top RSS feed plugins for WordPress has helped you find the right solution for displaying engaging content to your audience while saving time!
