I tried it when they started, it was a sluggish mess that also did not use the browser cache correctly. Maybe I noticed because I had thousands of RSS feeds, I dunno. Granted, that was a decade ago so I hope they improved it since.

I stick to https://newsblur.com/. It has it's quirks but is way, way faster (two days ago a redesign came out that makes it so fast I feel like I'm using the old Google Reader again)

I read about their redesign today. I was with them for about 5+ years but then eventually shifted to Inoreader.

What are the differences that made you switch?

IFTTT integration was the biggest draw. Newsblur appeared to slow down and I needed something shiny (and different) then. This isn't to say that NewsBlur is bad (it got the IFTTT integration, too) but I prefer Inoreader now. I am used to their interface.

Agreed - I've been using it since Google Reader ended and have used it practically daily since. While they've implemented some limitations and premium options, the interface has stayed basically the same with some unobtrusive elements.

I did have to cull some inactive blogs at one point, to stay within my tier limit, but was happy to do so. Incredible that it's been 9 years with barely any UI changes - I think this demonstrates how effective it is.

I rarely ever pay for services on the web. But I will pay for theoldreader. My mind is getting foggy with age, but I think it does everything that Google Reader did, and not much more. The perfect drop-in replacement.

Or if you want to self host: https://miniflux.app/

So was Google Reader, and it worked fine. That's the whole point.

Google Reader's UI wasn't that bad imho.