When comparing The Old Reader vs gReader, the Slant community recommends The Old Reader for most people. In the question“What are the best news readers?” The Old Reader is ranked 6th while gReader is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose The Old Reader is:
People from Facebook or Google can be found on The Old Reader so posts can be shared and discussed.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Social
People from Facebook or Google can be found on The Old Reader so posts can be shared and discussed.
Pro Very similar to the dismissed Google Reader
Ever since Google Reader has ceased to be an option, The Old Reader has grown in popularity.
Pro Great UI
A clean, easy to use interface.
Pro Easy to use
Intuitive, easy to overview service.
Pro OPML import
Allows for easy migration from any service that supports OPML.
Pro Freemium
Free version has a limit of 100 sites, upgrade to unlimited sites costs $25/year. Being freemium is a nice option for those that would like to try the app out without putting down any money first.
Pro Built-in text-to-speech
The app can read the news stories out lout to you.
Pro Has a lockscreen widget
The widget allows checking the news without having to unlock the phone.
Pro Integrates with multiple read it later services
gReader integrates with Pocket, Instapaper and Readability.
Pro Integrates with third-party RSS services and works as a standalone RSS reader
While the app can integrate with third-party RSS services, like Feedly and The Old Reader, it can be used as a standalone RSS reader as well.
Cons
Con Not free/libre
This application is proprietary, and thus cannot be modified, freely distributed, or trusted to be secure. Also, if the developer abandons it again, there will be no way for others to continue to update it.
Con No mobile app
Lacks an official native mobile app, but the mobile version of the site is quite usable and there are apps which support syncing with The Old Reader.
However, users have created many apps for a variety of platforms using The Old Reader API. You can check them out here.
Con Not very customizable
While the sources can be added or removed, the feed cannot be filtered in any other way. Display options are limited as well, leaving the user with the standard view.
Con Free version has very basic widget support
The free version includes just the icon widget, other widgets can be accessed with the pro version which costs $4.69.