How do I create my own feed?

Options for creating feeds from websites that don’t provide one.

If a website doesn’t provide an RSS feed, there are still multiple ways to follow its content with LightWatch, if you can put in a little effort. Be sure to read Is it ethical to make my own feed? first. I think it’s very important to understand the decision you are making when you create your own feed from a site that doesn’t provide one.

I don’t use or endorse any of the services mentioned on this page. I can’t verify their quality, reliability, or pricing. Do your own research and give them a try before committing to one.

Ask the site owner to make a feed

This is honestly the best option. A first-party feed means everyone else can benefit, and you don’t have to maintain it. Start here and hope for the best 🤞🏻

Many sites don’t have RSS feeds simply because they don’t know it is an option. Most site builders provide some kind of RSS plugin, so creating a feed is often very little work for the site author. You can point them to the optimizing feeds guide for information about ensuring a feed works well with LightWatch.

There are services that will generate RSS feeds from websites for you. These tend to cost money to use in any enjoyable capacity. Depending on the service, they either provide bespoke feed generator tools for specific platforms like Instagram or TikTok, or else they provide general-purpose scraping tools you can use to configure a custom feed scraper.

Depending on your goals, this might be a great solution. RSS.app is one example, but there are many others. Search for “create RSS feed from website” to see what’s out there.

Most let you try before you pay, so you can get a feel for how well they work with the sites you care about before committing.

Just remember, most of these feed creation services publish the feeds they create at public URLs. Make sure you have the appropriate permission to create feeds this way.

Free hosted tools

There are also free, community-run tools like RSS-Bridge that can generate feeds from popular platforms. These tend to be unpredictable — they use shared resources, and popular instances get blocked or overwhelmed. If you’re technical enough to self-host one, you’ll have a better experience.

Like the paid services, the hosted tools publish their feeds at public URLs. Make sure you have the appropriate permission to create feeds this way, or create a self-hosted solution you can keep private.

Build your own

If you’re comfortable with code or coding agents, you can write a script that reads a website and outputs RSS. This gives you full control over what gets extracted and how often it updates.

See the build your own feed generator guide for a walkthrough, including scheduling, server etiquette, and private hosting. You can also hand its URL to a coding agent to get started.