Feedly wants $5 to definitively replace your Google Reader – is it worth it?

Now that Google Reader is long gone (we miss you!), avid RSS junkies have been trying to find a new place to nest. Feedly has been one of the most-popular options amongst Google Reader refugees so far, with quick and easy merging of RSS feeds and a beautiful user interface that’s easy on the eyes. Most recently, though, Feedly introduced a paid version of the service, called Feedly Pro, which gives users a few more features for just $5 per month. It seems a bit strange to pay for an RSS reader after we’ve been using Google Reader for free for so long, but those extra couple of bucks might be a good investment. Let’s see what you’ll get for the price of your daily latte. 

Straight and simple, here are the features that you’ll get when you pay for Feedly Pro:

Search functionHTTPS capabilitiesEvernote integrationBetter customer serviceWe’ve been wondering why Feedly didn’t already have a search function, but it looks like the company will only be offering that convenience to paying subscribers. That was one thing that made Google Reader great; you could search and find older RSS items quickly and easily.

As for HTTPS, Feedly says that this will eventually come to free users at some point, and it’ll be “the first feature to go free when the next batch of Feedly Pro is available.” This means that if it’s secure browsing that you really want from Feedly, it’s probably best to wait it out until it becomes available for free users.

Evernote integration is probably one of the biggest paid features in the group. Details on how exactly the integration will work is still a mystery, but Feedly says that Pro users will be able to save a Feedly RSS item to any Evernote notebook with just one click. Of course, Feedly already offers a feature where you can save an item to read later on, but for those with strong ties to Evernote, this is a huge win.

Lastly, Feedly Pro users will be able to get their customer support requests answered in a timely fashion. Feedly is promising that Pro users will get bumped to the front of the line when they come to customer support with any problems. This is obviously a really nice perk, but it’s probably not something you’ll need to take advantage of regularly (we hope).

As for whether or not Feedly Pro is worth the cost, it’s really up to the user. If you use Evernote religiously, constantly search for past content, want a secure browsing experience, and love to be at the front of the line at customer service, then Feedly Pro is easily worth the $5 per month you’ll be paying.

However, chances are these four features don’t score the quadfecta for you, and you might only be interested in one or two of them. If that’s the case, you’re probably better off sticking with the free version of Feedly for now.

Feedly says that it’ll be “iterating and adding new features regularly,” but for starters, those four features are what users will get with their $5 per month. The service initially offered an early-bird special that allowed users to buy a lifetime subscription to Feedly Pro for $99, but that has since been “sold out.”

Furthermore, Feedly says that the next batch of features will actually be decided on by Feedly Pro users themselves, who will get to vote on what features they want to see next. While Feedly doesn’t mention this in its feature list for Feedly Pro, having the chance to have your voice heard about future Feedly Pro features might be worth the $5 per month.

Feedly Pro will only be available in the Web interface initially, but the company says that it will eventually make all Pro features available through the Feedly Cloud API, which means that the Feedly mobile apps will get the new features, as well as other cloud apps with Feedly integration.

As for the free version of Feedly, the company says that it’s still committed to it, and new free features will continually be added over time. According to the company, Feedly Pro makes the service “more sustainable and enables [faster innovation].”

So when can we expect Feedly Pro to officially launch? No exact timeline was given, but the company said the paid subscription model would launch “in a few weeks.”

Craig Lloyd is a freelance writer who's been writing and blogging since 2008. His love for technology goes back even further when he began tinkering with the family computer as a young, naive teenager. Aside from his deep and passionate love for writing and playing around with gadgetry, he enjoys watching and playing baseball, exercising, and getting his hands dirty with DIY projects.

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