FeedsBar presents

The Signal 500

The best feeds on the open web, scored on the FeedsBar philosophy.

35 sources · Rolling news desks and international broadcasters.

See all Breaking News →

PBS News Politics84
#1 in Breaking News
Measured public-broadcast politics from PBS NewsHour
Essential
The Moscow Times79
#5 in Breaking News
Independent English-language coverage of Russia, now in exile.
Standout
RFE/RL78
#6 in Breaking News
Reporting from closed and authoritarian societies.
Standout
Deutsche Welle73
#8 in Breaking News
Germany's international broadcaster with a European lens.
Standout
Mail & Guardian73
#9 in Breaking News
South Africa's storied investigative and political weekly
Notable
BBC News72
#11 in Breaking News
Global household-name public broadcaster with vast reach
Notable
The Korea Herald69
#14 in Breaking News
South Korea's largest English-language daily newspaper.
Notable
Al Jazeera67
#17 in Breaking News
Global South perspective on world affairs from Doha.
Notable

35 sources · Major international news desks.

See all World & Politics →

ProPublica90
#1 in World & Politics
Nonprofit newsroom driving accountability through investigative journalism.
Essential
Bellingcat86
#2 in World & Politics
Pioneering open-source investigative collective, best-in-class OSINT
Essential
Rest of World85
#4 in World & Politics
Tech's human impact across the global majority.
Essential
The Conversation (Global)80
#7 in World & Politics
Academic experts explaining world affairs for general readers.
Standout
openDemocracy78
#12 in World & Politics
Progressive global commentary on rights and power.
Standout
Foreign Affairs74
#19 in World & Politics
The establishment journal of international relations.
Standout
The Economist – International71
#27 in World & Politics
Data-driven liberal analysis of world affairs.
Notable
The Atlantic69
#30 in World & Politics
Ideas-driven American essays on politics and culture.
Notable

43 sources · Finance, markets and corporate strategy.

See all Business & Money →

Vitalik Buterin's Blog86
#1 in Business & Money
Ethereum's co-founder on cryptography and governance.
Essential
Stratechery84
#2 in Business & Money
Ben Thompson's tech strategy and business models.
Essential
Lenny's Newsletter80
#3 in Business & Money
The definitive product-management newsletter, practical and popular
Standout
Financial Times77
#6 in Business & Money
The world's benchmark for finance and business.
Standout
Not Boring (Packy McCormick)77
#9 in Business & Money
Sprawling, optimistic deep dives on tech and strategy
Standout
The Block74
#19 in Business & Money
Institutional-grade crypto reporting and research.
Standout
CNBC62
#40 in Business & Money
Global business-news firehose, heavy on market noise and ads
Notable
Business Insider54
#42 in Business & Money
High-volume business coverage mixing scoops with filler
Notable
Forbes Business54
#43 in Business & Money
Big brand diluted by contributor SEO and ad clutter
Notable

41 sources · Technology, research and what ships next.

See all Tech & AI →

Daring Fireball89
#2 in Tech & AI
Gruber's influential, opinionated Apple linkblog and commentary
Essential
EFF Deeplinks85
#6 in Tech & AI
Digital civil liberties and privacy advocacy news
Essential
Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) Blog81
#14 in Tech & AI
Cutting-edge academic AI research explained by Berkeley labs
Standout
Hugging Face Blog77
#25 in Tech & AI
Open-source ML models, tools and practitioner tutorials
Standout
Mozilla Blog72
#35 in Tech & AI
Mozilla's product news and open-web advocacy
Notable
Ars Technica64
#38 in Tech & AI
Deep technical reporting on computing, science and policy
Notable
Wired60
#40 in Tech & AI
Feature tech journalism on culture, business and science.
Notable
Apple Newsroom58
#41 in Tech & AI
Apple's polished official press releases and announcements
Notable

35 sources · Building software, hardware and everything else.

See all Makers →

Rust Blog80
#16 in Makers
Official releases and roadmap from the Rust project
Standout
A List Apart77
#27 in Makers
Standards, craft, and thinking about web design
Standout
GitHub Blog76
#29 in Makers
Product, engineering, and open-source news from GitHub
Standout
MIT News AI76
#30 in Makers
MIT's press coverage of its AI research.
Standout
Stripe Blog76
#31 in Makers
Payments infrastructure, APIs, and engineering from Stripe
Standout
ThemeIsle63
#35 in Makers
WordPress theme vendor's SEO-driven tutorial blog.
Notable

38 sources · Research, climate and the natural world.

See all Science & Environment →

Yale Environment 36086
#2 in Science & Environment
In-depth environmental journalism from Yale
Essential
Yale Climate Connections84
#3 in Science & Environment
Nonprofit climate reporting, quietly rigorous and reader-funded.
Essential
NASA Breaking News83
#4 in Science & Environment
Authoritative official NASA mission and space announcements
Essential
Science Magazine78
#12 in Science & Environment
AAAS flagship: premier research plus best-in-class science journalism
Standout
Universe Today78
#13 in Science & Environment
Daily space and astronomy news for enthusiasts
Standout
The Planetary Society76
#17 in Science & Environment
Space exploration advocacy and planetary science updates.
Standout
Nature News74
#23 in Science & Environment
The flagship journal's latest research and science news
Standout
Science Daily60
#38 in Science & Environment
High-traffic verbatim press-release aggregator, dated design
Notable

35 sources · Medicine, fitness and mental health.

See all Health & Wellbeing →

KFF Health News85
#1 in Health & Wellbeing
Nonprofit, freely syndicated health-policy reporting of the highest rigor
Essential
The Conversation (Health)85
#2 in Health & Wellbeing
Academic experts explain health research for everyone.
Essential
Science-Based Medicine84
#3 in Health & Wellbeing
Debunking pseudoscience in medicine and health claims.
Essential
Greater Good Magazine81
#5 in Health & Wellbeing
Berkeley science of meaning, compassion and happiness.
Standout
Mental Health America Blog74
#13 in Health & Wellbeing
Nonprofit advocacy blog, credible but sporadic and PR-flavored.
Standout
NHS News67
#23 in Health & Wellbeing
Official NHS England institutional announcements and health-service news
Notable
STAT News67
#25 in Health & Wellbeing
Best-in-class biotech, medicine and health-policy investigative journalism
Notable
Psychology Today64
#33 in Health & Wellbeing
Sprawling therapist-blog network plus the ubiquitous therapist directory
Notable

35 sources · Essays and arguments worth the time.

See all Ideas & Longform →

The Marginalian88
#1 in Ideas & Longform
Maria Popova on art, science, and the examined life.
Essential
Psyche83
#4 in Ideas & Longform
Aeon's sister site on mind, meaning, and living well.
Standout
The Pudding82
#5 in Ideas & Longform
Gorgeous interactive data essays, rare drops, endlessly original.
Standout
Public Domain Review82
#7 in Ideas & Longform
Curiosities from art and history's public-domain archives.
Standout
Longreads78
#13 in Ideas & Longform
Curated and original best long-form nonfiction online.
Standout
Noahpinion77
#14 in Ideas & Longform
Economist Noah Smith on economics, tech, and policy.
Standout
Harper's Magazine73
#28 in Ideas & Longform
America's oldest general-interest monthly, literary and contrarian.
Notable

42 sources · Film, music, books and the people making them.

See all Culture & Arts →

JSTOR Daily82
#1 in Culture & Arts
Scholarship-backed essays linking research to current culture.
Standout
London Review of Books80
#4 in Culture & Arts
Europe's leading magazine of long-form book criticism
Standout
Bandcamp Daily77
#9 in Culture & Arts
Deep-dive features on underground and emerging artists
Standout
PopMatters71
#30 in Culture & Arts
Long-running independent culture criticism, ad-cluttered site.
Notable
Chess.com News70
#35 in Culture & Arts
Tournament coverage from the dominant online chess platform.
Notable
Inside Intercom61
#40 in Culture & Arts
SaaS company blog on product, support, and design.
Notable

42 sources · Fashion, design and how things look.

See all Style & Beauty →

Permanent Style83
#1 in Style & Beauty
Simon Crompton's deep dive into bespoke menswear
Essential
The Art of Manliness81
#2 in Style & Beauty
Men's style, grooming and character, huge archive
Standout
Good On You77
#6 in Style & Beauty
Ethical fashion ratings holding brands accountable on sustainability.
Standout
Cafleurebon74
#10 in Style & Beauty
Niche and artisan perfume reviews and news
Standout
Dazed74
#11 in Style & Beauty
Youth culture and fearless fashion provocateurs
Standout
Hypebeast69
#18 in Style & Beauty
Global streetwear and hype-culture news, heavy on drops.
Notable
Harper's Bazaar65
#30 in Style & Beauty
America's oldest fashion magazine, high style
Notable
Elle60
#38 in Style & Beauty
Hearst global fashion glossy, trends and celebrity style.
Notable

39 sources · Interiors, gardens and making a place yours.

See all Home & Living →

Yellowtrace78
#1 in Home & Living
Australian interiors, architecture and design journal
Standout
Ignant76
#2 in Home & Living
Berlin platform for design, art and architecture
Standout
Core7774
#5 in Home & Living
Industrial design news, process and commentary
Standout
Houzz Blog72
#10 in Home & Living
Platform-backed design magazine, polished but commercially minded.
Notable
Homedit71
#14 in Home & Living
High-traffic home SEO site, useful but ad-cluttered.
Notable
ArchDaily68
#26 in Home & Living
Global architecture news, projects and references
Notable
Country Living26
#39 in Home & Living
Notable

40 sources · Cooking, restaurants and going places.

See all Food & Travel →

101 Cookbooks79
#2 in Food & Travel
Heidi Swanson's natural, whole-food recipe archive
Standout
Roads & Kingdoms75
#7 in Food & Travel
Award-winning journalism at the intersection of food and travel.
Standout
Be My Travel Muse75
#8 in Food & Travel
Detailed solo female adventure-travel guides from firsthand experience.
Standout
Budget Bytes73
#12 in Food & Travel
Delicious recipes costed down to the serving
Notable
Sally's Baking Addiction73
#14 in Food & Travel
Reliable, well-tested baking recipes; ad-heavy layout
Notable
Adventure Journal72
#15 in Food & Travel
Reflective, independent outdoor and adventure writing
Notable
The Kitchn64
#37 in Food & Travel
Everyday home cooking tips and kitchen know-how
Notable
BBC Good Food63
#38 in Food & Travel
UK's leading food brand with recipes, reviews and features.
Notable

35 sources · Results, analysis and the long season.

See all Sports →

Defector82
#1 in Sports
Worker-owned, irreverent sports and culture writing
Standout
ABC News Sport (Australia)79
#2 in Sports
Australian public broadcaster's cricket, AFL and rugby coverage
Standout
MLB Trade Rumors77
#4 in Sports
Definitive baseball transactions, signings and trade coverage.
Standout
LA Times Sports77
#5 in Sports
Metro-paper sports desk with strong original reporting
Standout
ESPN67
#18 in Sports
America's dominant all-sports news and highlights machine
Notable
Sportsnet67
#20 in Sports
Canada's major sports network: hockey, baseball, basketball.
Notable
Bundesliga (Official)66
#22 in Sports
Official English-language feed for Germany's top football league.
Notable
Sky Sports64
#27 in Sports
Breaking UK sports news, transfers and live coverage
Notable

How the score works

Eight things, each scored 0–10, weighted into a mark out of 100. Quality sets the order, not audience size.

Audience decides one thing only. The most widely read sources are always in the list, wherever their score lands them. That is why a few famous names sit near the bottom, and why sources you have never heard of sit near the top.

Editorial quality

×2

Original reporting and craft, rather than aggregation.

Judged

Ad restraint

×1.5

How little the page fights you. Counts real ad and tracker entities.

Measured

Reach

×1.5

Audience size, from public domain ranking.

Measured

Signal to noise

×1

How much of the output is worth reading.

Judged

Free to read

×1

Whether you can actually read it without a wall.

Judged

Publishing rhythm

×1

Publishes often enough to matter, rarely enough to follow.

Judged

Design

×1

How calm the page looks: typography, whitespace, clutter, hierarchy.

Judged

Independence

×1

Who owns it, and what that costs the reader.

Judged

Our method

Numbers and opinion, kept apart. A browser opens every source and counts what it finds. Ad entities, layout shift, reading width. A vision model looks at the page it renders. That much is arithmetic. Whether something is worth your attention is not. That part is ours. Both are honest. They are not the same thing.

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The Signal 500

Breaking News

World & Politics

Business & Money

Tech & AI

Makers

Science & Environment

Health & Wellbeing

Ideas & Longform

Culture & Arts

Style & Beauty

Home & Living

Food & Travel

Sports

Zeitgeist

Mac

Creators & Culture

How the score works

Editorial quality

Ad restraint

Reach

Signal to noise

Free to read

Publishing rhythm

Design

Independence

Our method

One click from your Mac desktop