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RSS & Atom - open standards that still matter

While most people scroll algorithm-curated feeds, a quieter, older web still hums in the background - powered by RSS and Atom. In this post, I explore how these open standards still enable decentralized information flow.

Witold Zawada

Witold Zawada

9 min read

Before algorithmic feeds

Related project: Nuntius Feed is my open-source RSS and Atom reader and aggregator. This site also publishes its own RSS feed.

The internet is full of content, and much of what appears in modern apps is selected by recommendation algorithms.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, web feeds gave people a simple way to follow news, blogs, and updates directly from their sources and read them in chronological order.

These formats are called RSS and Atom. They still work in 2025 and remain useful alternatives to algorithmic feeds.

1. The origins of web feeds: RSS

Before social media and personalized news apps, there was a need for a simple way to stay updated on new content from websites without having to visit them manually. That need led to the creation of RSS.

RSS emerged in the late 1990s as a way to deliver structured website updates directly to users. RSS 0.90 (1999) used RDF and was known as RDF Site Summary. RSS 0.91 simplified that model and used the name Rich Site Summary; RSS 2.0 later popularized the expansion Really Simple Syndication. Over time, different branches emerged:

  • RSS 1.0 (2000): RDF-based, more formal and extensible
  • RSS 2.0 (2002): simpler, more widely adopted, with support for enclosures

However, RSS development lacked a central authority and suffered from inconsistencies across implementations. Different versions led to fragmentation and confusion.

This is why a new format was proposed - one that would address these limitations and bring clarity to the world of web feeds.

2. A cleaner alternative: Atom

The Atom format was introduced in the early 2000s to address ambiguities and compatibility problems in the RSS ecosystem. Officially published as RFC 4287 in 2005, Atom aimed to:

  • Provide a well-defined, XML namespace-based structure
  • Use consistent and standardized date formats (ISO 8601)
  • Include required elements for every entry
  • Offer better extensibility via namespaces

While RSS 2.0 remained more widely used, Atom brought more rigor and was adopted by many major platforms, especially for APIs and technical documentation.

3. How feeds work

3.1 What's inside a feed

Feeds typically include a title, link, description, and a collection of items or entries. Each item usually has its own title, description, link, and publication date, although the exact structure and field names vary by format.

Keep in mind that many feeds serve as teasers - they include only a brief summary and a link to the full article on the original website. Others publish the complete entry.

Let's compare the two most popular web feed standards: RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0.

Feed link: https://www.polsatnews.pl/rss/wszystkie.xml

RSS 2.0 - Polsat News (Polish News Website):

xml
1<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
2	<channel>
3		<title>Polsat News - Wiadomości</title>
4		<description>Kanał RSS Polsat News - Wiadomości</description>
5		<link>https://www.polsatnews.pl/</link>
6		<atom:link href="https://www.polsatnews.pl/rss/wszystkie.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
7		<language>pl</language>
8		<copyright>Polsat News</copyright>
9		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2025 04:07:39 +0200</lastBuildDate>
10		<item>
11			<title>
12				"Nie otwieraj okien". Wydano ostrzeżenia ws. pożaru w Mińsku Mazowieckim
13			</title>
14			<description>
15				Nie zbliżaj się do miejsca pożaru. Nie otwieraj okien. Śledź komunikaty służb - ostrzega Rządowe Centrum Bezpieczeństwa. W Mińsku Mazowieckim trwa walka z pożarem hali produkcyjno-magazynowej. Działania strażaków mogą potrwać kilkanaście godzin, teren zabezpiecza również policja.
16			</description>
17			<link>
18				https://www.polsatnews.pl/wiadomosc/2025-07-13/nie-otwieraj-okien-wydano-ostrzezenia-ws-pozaru-w-minsku-mazowieckim/
19			</link>
20			<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jul 2025 22:31:00 +0200</pubDate>
21			<enclosure url="https://ipla.pluscdn.pl/dituel/cp/7i/7iwre9s5ojsx4myom3fqsbyw3qu33t51.jpg" length="12709" type="image/jpg"/>
22			<guid>
23			https://www.polsatnews.pl/wiadomosc/2025-07-13/nie-otwieraj-okien-wydano-ostrzezenia-ws-pozaru-w-minsku-mazowieckim/
24			</guid>
25		</item>
26		<!-- ...more items -->
27	</channel>
28</rss>

Feed link: https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml

Atom 1.0 - Vox News (American News Website)

xml
1<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xml:lang="en-US">
2	<title type="text">Vox</title>
3	<subtitle type="text">
4		Our world has too much noise and too little context. Vox helps you understand what matters.
5	</subtitle>
6	<updated>2025-07-11T02:39:33+00:00</updated>
7	<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.vox.com"/>
8	<id>https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml</id>
9	<link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://www.vox.com/rss/index.xml"/>
10	<icon>
11			https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/vox_logo_rss_light_mode.png?w=150&amp;h=100&amp;crop=1
12	</icon>
13	<entry>
14		<author>
15			<name>Dylan Scott</name>
16		</author>
17		<author>
18			<name>Allie Volpe</name>
19		</author>
20		<title type="html">Why doctors are finally taking IUD pain seriously</title>
21		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.vox.com/today-explained-newsletter/419507/iud-birth-control-insertion-pain-medicine"/>
22		<id>https://www.vox.com/?p=419507</id>
23		<updated>2025-07-10T14:57:34-04:00</updated>
24		<published>2025-07-13T08:00:00-04:00</published>
25		<category scheme="https://www.vox.com" term="Even Better"/>
26		<category scheme="https://www.vox.com" term="Health"/>
27		<category scheme="https://www.vox.com" term="Life"/>
28		<category scheme="https://www.vox.com" term="Public Health"/>
29		<category scheme="https://www.vox.com" term="Today, Explained newsletter"/>
30		<summary type="html">
31			IUDs have been a promising breakthrough in birth control, offering both convenience and effectiveness, and their use has exploded over the past few decades. But that progress has often come with some (painful) trade-offs. Vox senior reporter Allie Volpe has been digging into why medicine has been slow to catch up to the pain that [&#8230;]
32		</summary>
33		<content type="html">
34			<!-- Actual article content in HTML -->
35		</content>
36	</entry>
37	<!-- ...more entries -->
38</feed>

Want to check if a feed is valid? Try the W3C Feed Validator. Just paste either of the feed links from above.

Key differences:

  • Structure and tags: RSS uses <channel> and <item>, while Atom uses <feed> and <entry>. Field names also differ - for example, pubDate (RSS) vs published and updated (Atom).

  • Namespaces and XML strictness: Atom is XML namespace-based and stricter in structure, which makes it more predictable for parsers.

  • Metadata: Atom entries can include metadata such as multiple authors, categories, and richer content types. RSS 2.0 is simpler, but real-world implementations are not always consistent.

  • Extensibility: Atom was designed with extensibility in mind, including richer <category> and <content> elements, while RSS extensions are less uniform.

  • Date format: RSS commonly uses RFC 822-style dates (Sun, 13 Jul 2025 22:31:00 +0200), whereas Atom uses ISO 8601 timestamps (2025-07-13T08:00:00-04:00). Parsers still need to validate either format.

3.2 Subscribing and reading

Subscribing to RSS or Atom feeds is simple and flexible. Users can choose from a variety of tools and methods depending on their preferences and workflow.

Desktop and web-based feed readers

There are many dedicated applications that allow you to follow and manage multiple feeds in one place:

Aggregators and dashboards

Feeds can also be consumed via custom dashboards or automation platforms:

  • Custom dashboards: Some developers create personal feed dashboards using tools like Next.js or React.
  • Automation tools: Services like IFTTT and Zapier can watch RSS feeds and trigger actions, such as sending email or posting to a chat service.

OPML support

To manage multiple subscriptions, many feed readers support OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) - an XML-based format for importing and exporting lists of feed URLs.

This makes it easy to:

  • Back up your subscriptions
  • Migrate between readers
  • Share curated feed lists with others

OPML is especially handy when you're switching between readers or syncing subscriptions across devices.

3.3 Common use cases

Feeds are used in:

  • Blogs
  • News websites
  • YouTube channels (via feed URLs)
  • Software changelogs and release notes

4. The state of RSS and Atom

4.1 Who still uses it?

Even though RSS and Atom are considered "old tech", they continue to be used by a wide range of people:

  • Developers: Use feeds to stay updated on software releases, documentation updates, blog posts, and changelogs from GitHub or package registries.

  • Journalists and researchers: Follow niche news sites, government publications, and academic feeds through regular updates without relying on social media platforms.

  • Privacy-focused users: Reduce their dependence on algorithmic curation and platform-level tracking by subscribing directly to trusted content sources.

  • Anyone tired of algorithmic feeds: People who want a calmer, chronological reading experience can use feed readers to choose their own sources.

4.2 Where you can still find feeds

Despite fewer sites actively promoting them, many still maintain RSS or Atom feeds - sometimes hidden in their HTML metadata or under a small icon.

Here are some places where feeds are still alive and well:

  • Reddit
  • Medium
  • News websites
  • Newsletters

Tip: You can often discover a site's feed by checking the <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"> tag in the page source.

5. Technical challenges and feed parsing

5.1 Malformed XML and bad dates

One of the most common issues when working with real-world feeds is malformed XML. Some feeds contain invalid characters, improperly closed tags, or mixed encodings, which can break parsers.

Date formats are another challenge. RSS commonly uses RFC 822-style timestamps, and real feeds sometimes contain nonstandard variations. Atom standardizes ISO 8601 timestamps, but parsers still need to handle invalid input.

5.2 Inconsistent fields and broken encodings

Feeds sometimes omit useful elements such as title, link, or pubDate. Encodings can also be declared incorrectly - for example, ISO-8859-1 content may be labeled as UTF-8 - leading to broken or unreadable characters.

Another issue is format-mixing - some feeds blend features of RSS 1.0, 2.0, and Atom, making consistent parsing more complex.

5.3 RSS vs Atom parsing differences

Although both formats serve the same purpose, they differ in structure and naming:

  • RSS uses <item>, Atom uses <entry>
  • RSS uses <pubDate>, Atom uses <updated> and <published>
  • Atom relies on namespaces and stricter requirements, whereas RSS implementations tend to vary more widely

When writing a parser or aggregator, you usually need to handle both formats separately or normalize them into a common internal structure.

6. Tools and projects worth exploring

6.1 Feed readers

These are examples of established open-source feed readers:

  • FreshRSS - Web-based, selfhosted, with good performance and a clean UI.
  • Miniflux - Minimalist and fast, great for focused reading.
  • NetNewsWire - Native macOS/iOS app with offline support.

Their feature sets differ, but each supports feed subscriptions and OPML-based workflows.

6.2 My project: Nuntius Feed

If you're curious, I'm building my own open-source reader and aggregator called Nuntius Feed.