# Folo (RSSNext/Folo): an AI RSS reader you can install on Android, Windows and Linux > Folo is an AGPL-3.0 TypeScript monorepo that ships a web app plus iOS, Android, macOS and Windows clients, with community packages for Arch, Nix, Homebrew and Scoop. It is a reading client, not a self-hosted feed server. **RSSNext/Folo** — Folo is the AI RSS Reader. Dynamic Content Support Because we know content is more than just text. - Repository: https://github.com/RSSNext/Folo - Website: https://app.folo.is - Stars: 39,017 · Forks: 2,132 - Language: TypeScript - License: AGPL-3.0 - Published: 2026-08-04 · Updated: 2026-08-18 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/rssnext-folo ## What Folo actually solves for people drowning in feeds Folo is a reading client for RSS and similar feeds. The README frames the problem as noise: "we've been consuming noisy feeds for too long," and the product answer is one merged timeline rather than a folder tree of separate subscriptions. That is a real difference in posture. Classic readers assume you want to triage per-feed; Folo assumes you want a single stream and then filters it. The audience is broad enough to include journalists and researchers who track many sources, since the README lists dynamic content support (articles, videos, images, audio) as a first-class feature rather than an afterthought. The repository itself is a pnpm monorepo with api/, apps/, packages/ and plugins/ directories, so the second audience is developers who want to build on or fork the client. The README addresses both groups directly: "Whether for users or professional developers, Folo will be your open information playground." One caveat sits in that same paragraph. The README states Folo "is currently under active development, and feedback is welcome for any issue encountered." The last push to the repository was on 2026-07-31, and the most recent tags are mobile/v0.5.7 and desktop/v1.12.0 from the same day. That is a project shipping regularly, but the README's own warning tells you to expect rough edges. ## How the monorepo is laid out and where the client ends The architecture visible from the repository root is a pnpm workspace managed by Turborepo. The top level contains api/, apps/, packages/, plugins/, scripts/, locales/, docs/ and wiki/, with turbo.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml and vitest.workspace.ts driving builds and tests. Root scripts confirm the shape: build:packages runs turbo over ./packages/**/*, dev:web runs @follow/web#dev and @follow/ssr#dev together, and build:web filters on Folo#build:web. So the web experience is split between a client app and a server-side rendering app, both inside apps/. The package.json declares "packageManager": "pnpm@10.17.0" and "license": "AGPL-3.0-only". It also declares a postinstall hook that runs build:packages. That single line matters more than it looks: a plain install triggers a Turbo build of every workspace package, so the first pnpm install on a cold machine is not a lightweight operation. What the repository does not show is the server side of reading. There is no self-hosting guide in the README, no docker-compose file at the root, and no documented sync protocol. The homepage is app.folo.is, which is where the web client lives. For anyone who wants the aggregator on their own hardware, that is the boundary: Folo is the client, and the feed-sync service is operated by the project. ## Installing Folo on Android, Windows, Linux and macOS The README's install table is the authoritative list. Any platform can use the web app at app.folo.is. iOS and macOS both point at the App Store listing id6739802604. Android goes to Google Play under the package is.follow, with a GitHub releases fallback. Windows uses the Microsoft Store listing 9nvfzpv0v0ht, again with a releases fallback. Linux has no store listing at all, only the releases page. The README names four community-maintained install channels. On macOS with Homebrew it points at the cask folo, maintained by realSunyz. On Windows with Scoop it points at the manifest folo, maintained by cscnk52. On Arch Linux it points at folo-appimage in the AUR, maintained by timochan and grtsinry43. On Nix it points at the package follow in nixpkgs, maintained by iosmanthus. Note the naming split: the Nix attribute is follow, not folo, because the repository URL in package.json still points at RSSNext/follow. That mismatch is the kind of thing that wastes ten minutes if you do not expect it. For a first real use, the workflow the README describes is subscribe, then curate. Add a feed or a curated list, let it land in the single timeline, and use the AI features (translation and summary are the two the README names) on items you would otherwise skip. There is no documented CLI and no documented environment variable for pointing the client at a different backend, so a first run means signing in to the hosted service. ## Where Folo is the wrong tool The clearest limitation is the one the README never addresses: there is no documented way to self-host the sync backend. If your reason for using RSS is that your reading list stays on infrastructure you control, Folo's default path does not give you that. The client is open source under AGPL-3.0-only, but the service it talks to by default is app.folo.is, and the README does not describe a server you can stand up. The second limitation is documentation depth. The README covers features at the level of headings ("AI At Your Fingertips", "Dynamic Content Support") without specifying which model provider powers translation or summarization, whether AI features consume a quota, or what happens to an article when you request a summary. If you are evaluating Folo for a newsroom, that gap is the thing to resolve before rollout, not after. The third is packaging drift. Four of the install paths in the README are community-maintained: the AUR package, the Nix package, the Homebrew cask and the Scoop manifest. Community packages lag upstream releases, sometimes by weeks. The repository's own releases are tagged per platform (desktop/v1.12.0, mobile/v0.5.7), which means version numbers do not line up across clients either. A team standardising on one version number across desktop and mobile cannot do it with these tags. ## Folo against FreshRSS and a plain feed server The honest alternative for anyone who wants control is FreshRSS, which the related searches pair with AI and with RSS Bridge. The difference in approach is structural, not cosmetic. FreshRSS is a PHP feed aggregator you install on a server; the clients are thin, and the database, the fetch schedule and the retention rules are yours. Folo inverts that: the client is heavy, it is the part you install, and the aggregation happens behind a hosted service. That inversion has consequences. With FreshRSS you debug a feed that stopped updating by reading your own logs. With Folo you wait for the service or file an issue. On the other side, FreshRSS gives you no App Store build, no Microsoft Store build, and no cask. If you want a reading app your non-technical colleague can install in two clicks on a phone, Folo's distribution list is the reason to pick it, and FreshRSS's server-first design is the reason not to. A second reference point in the same searches is RSSHub, which is a different layer entirely: it generates feeds for sites that do not publish them. Folo consumes feeds; RSSHub manufactures them. They are complementary, and neither replaces the other. ## Licence, maintenance and what an upgrade costs you The repository licence is AGPL-3.0-only, declared both in LICENSE at the root and in the package.json license field. The practical implication for a fork is the network clause: if you modify Folo and let users interact with it over a network, the AGPL's source-availability condition attaches to your modified version. That is a real constraint for anyone planning a private, modified deployment, and it is not a constraint that MIT-licensed readers impose. This is a description of the licence, not legal advice; check with counsel before shipping a modified instance. Maintenance looks steady by the only measures available here. The repository is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-07-31, which is under two months before the current date, with mobile/v0.5.7 and desktop/v1.12.0 tagged that same day. The README's own note that the project is under active development is consistent with that. Upgrade cost is the part to plan for. Because releases are split by platform tag, desktop and mobile do not share a version line, and because four install channels are community-maintained, an upgrade may arrive through your package manager later than through the GitHub releases page. Teams that pin versions should pin per platform, not once. The repository also ships a changelogithub.config.ts at the root, so release notes are generated rather than hand-written; read them rather than assuming a minor bump is cosmetic. ## Conclusion Adopt Folo if you want a cross-platform reading client with official iOS, Android, macOS and Windows builds and you are comfortable with feed sync living on app.folo.is rather than on your own machine. Do not adopt it if you need a self-hosted aggregator, an offline-only reader, or a documented API you can build against, because the README documents none of those. Before committing, verify three things: that your platform has a current release under the desktop/ or mobile/ tag prefix, that your distribution's package (folo-appimage, the Nix package, the Homebrew cask, the Scoop manifest) is still in step with that release, and that the AGPL-3.0-only terms are acceptable for any fork or internal deployment you have in mind. ## FAQ ### Does anyone still use RSS feeds? The material cannot answer this, since it contains no usage data. What it does show is that RSSNext/Folo ships a reader with official iOS, Android, macOS and Windows builds and a release tagged as recently as 2026-07-31, which is the project's own bet that feed reading still has users. ### How to use RSS feed? In Folo the workflow described by the README is to subscribe to feeds and curated lists, then read them in one merged timeline rather than per-feed folders. AI features such as translation and summary are applied to items in that timeline. ### Is RSS still used in 2026? The material contains no data on overall RSS usage. It does show Folo tagging desktop/v1.12.0 and mobile/v0.5.7 on 2026-07-31, so the project itself was still shipping clients on that date. ### Is the RSS app free? The README never states a price and the material contains no pricing information, so cost cannot be confirmed from it. What is confirmed is that the client source is published under AGPL-3.0-only and that the web app runs at app.folo.is. ## Sources - [Official documentation](https://app.folo.is) - [Official README](https://github.com/RSSNext/Folo#readme) - [Project repository](https://github.com/RSSNext/Folo) - [Release notes](https://github.com/RSSNext/Folo/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/rssnext-folo