Content aggregation and syndication can be delicate. If you’re looking for a WordPress plugin to import RSS feeds, you want to focus on options that give you a lot of control over what content you import and how. WP RSS Aggregator and WPeMatico are two of the most popular options in the market.
The right plugin will enable you to fully automate importing content, re-publishing it, and ensuring it doesn’t look out of place on your site. This is a decision worth mulling over.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to WP RSS Aggregator and WPeMatico, then we’ll compare them point-by-point to help you choose the right plugin for your needs. Let’s start with Aggregator.
Overview of WP RSS Aggregator
WP RSS Aggregator gives you multiple options for importing content into your website. You can use it to import RSS feeds and you have full control over what items to bring over and how they look on your site.
If a website has an RSS feed, WP RSS Aggregator can import its content. All you need to get started is to find the feed URL. Then you get to customize how the plugin imports the content and this works on a feed-by-feed basis.
You can use WP RSS Aggregator to create carefully-curated news aggregators, set up event and job listings, and more. If it comes in a feed, WP RSS Aggregator enables you to curate that content at scale and automate the process.
Key Features:
- Automated RSS feed importing and content filtering
- Manage an unlimited number of feed sources
- Integration with third-party content rewriting and optimization services
Who should use WP RSS Aggregator: Anyone or any business who can benefit from importing and curating content on their blogs or websites can benefit from using WP RSS Aggregator. Its automation features make it a great fit for projects that rely on regular content for growth and it offers a modern, user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate.
Overview of WPeMatico
WPeMatico defines itself as an auto-blogging plugin. You can use the plugin to automatically create posts from RSS feeds and organize them into “campaigns”.
The plugin gives you a lot of options for customizing how it imports that content and how it displays it. WPeMatico also offers a streamlined campaign “wizard” you can use to quickly configure only the most basic settings, to be able to publish feeds faster.
Key Features:
- Import RSS feed content automatically
- Manage multiple feed sources
Who should use WPeMatico: On paper, WPeMatico and WP RSS Aggregator are fairly similar. That means there isn’t a big overlap in the kind of users that can benefit from using either plugin. If you’re looking for a way to automate content aggregation, WPeMatico warrants consideration.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
WPeMatico and WP RSS Aggregator fall under a similar category of automated content curation plugins. To understand what sets them apart, we’ll look at key features side by side.
Ease of Use
How easy a plugin is to set up and start using is generally a great litmus test of how many headaches it will give you. If just getting the plugin up and running is a challenge, it doesn’t bode well for the future.
Setting up WP RSS Aggregator is straightforward. Once you activate the plugin, you can head straight into the dashboard and start setting up feed sources:
WP RSS Aggregator features an interface that’s easy to navigate, even for a first-time user. As you navigate the plugin, documentation is always easy to access using the help icon in the top right corner.
WPeMatico is also easy to set up and start using. Once you activate the plugin, you can navigate to its tab in the WordPress dashboard and get an overview of all your active campaigns as well as set up new ones:
This is a more classic WordPress interface that a lot of users can instantly feel familiar with. One downside in terms of ease of use is that there’s no way to access documentation from the plugin, though.
Importing and Aggregating Content
WP RSS Aggregator makes aggregating content simple.
To add a new source, go to Feed Sources > Add New. Right away, you can add an RSS feed URL and the plugin will show you how that feed’s content would look and what its latest posts are:
The plugin enables you to access different settings for configuring how importing, automation, and filtering work. Keep in mind that the features you get access to will depend on the Aggregator license you use.
With a Basic license, you get access to practical features, such as full source customization:
When you’re done configuring the settings for sources, you can start the import process. From then on, it’s automated.
WPeMatico does things differently, at least style-wise. To add a source, you can go to WPeMatico > Add New in the dashboard. The plugin hits you with all the source customization options available on one screen:
The plugin offers a very comprehensive set of features for customizing each campaign or source. Every option on the configuration page also includes a simple tooltip that explains what it does, which is a great addition.
When the campaign is ready, you can publish it using the classic WordPress Publish button. If you configured the feed to update automatically, that’s all you have to do.
Customization Options
WP RSS Aggregator enables you to configure the post type for imported feeds and decide how many items to import each time. You can also set the status for new items and categorize them with folders:
WP RSS Aggregator offers content filtering with its Basic plan and upward. With filters, you get to set rules for what content the plugin can and can’t import. Properly set filters are what make content aggregation possible:
A Basic license also gives you access to feed template customization. This gives you full control over how each feed looks through a user-friendly visual editor.
WPeMatico offers similar options for customizing your feed. You can configure how many items to fetch, how to publish them, and their status.
The plugin also includes a couple of unique customization features, such as removing links from content (useful if you’re importing full articles), and categorizing content automatically:
Filters are also available in WPeMatico, but you need to buy an add-on to use them or a full premium license (we’re getting to prices soon!).
Automation
Automation is at the core of both WP RSS Aggregator and WPeMatico. By design, each plugin encourages you to automate feed importing and curation so you can focus on other tasks.
With WP RSS Aggregator, you can configure feeds to update automatically every minute, hour, day, and so forth:
That is a feed-by-feed setting, so if there are feeds you don’t want to update automatically, you can disable that feature for them.
WPeMatico enables you to enable scheduling for campaigns and use preconfigured options or set the timers yourself:
In terms of automation, WPeMatico gives you more granular control over when campaigns run. For example, you can schedule campaigns to run only at 3 PM on Sundays, if that’s something you want (for some reason).
Integrations with Other Plugins/Services
Both WP RSS Aggregator and WPeMatic offer integrations with some third-party plugins and services. With Aggregator, you can connect the plugin with WordAI and SpinnerChief. These are content-rewriting services you can use to repurpose imported items.
WPeMatico also offers integration with a similar spinning service with its Professional add-on, but more limited since it doesn’t leverage AI. It also works alongside Polylang.
With the WPeMatico Polylang add-on, you can configure the plugin to automatically translate imported feed content. You can use that integration to set up multilingual content curation projects.
Pricing Comparison
WP RSS Aggregator and WPeMatico offer free and premium versions. Premium licenses for WP RSS Aggregator start at $79 per site and at $311 per site for WPeMatico (both per year).
With WP RSS Aggregator, you can pick which plan works best for you depending on what features you need to import and curate content. The Basic version is great for a lot of sites, but if you want to leverage features such as full-text importing, you’ll want to opt for a more professional license.
With WPeMatico, a premium license gets you access to all their add-ons. If you select only the add-ons you need, you can save money versus a premium license. In any case, WP RSS Aggregator offers a better value with its accessible starting prices.
Support and Documentation
If you pay for a plugin (or even if you’re using a free one), it’s important to have access to documentation and reliable support. The WP RSS Aggregator knowledgebase is comprehensive and it’s always getting updated.
New guides and tutorials on how to use Aggregator are also regularly published on the blog. Paid license owners can reach out to the support team while users of the free plugin can get assistance from the public forum of WordPress.
WPeMatico also offers a knowledge base that covers most aspects of how to use the plugin and set up feeds. You can reach out to the developers for support using email tickets and there’s also a premium support service.
Their premium support service starts at $49 per month and includes the WPeMatico team dealing directly with issues on your site if needed.
Conclusion: Which Plugin is Right for You?
WP RSS Aggregator and WPeMatico offer similar features, but very different experiences. With Aggregator, the focus is on automation and giving you full control over how imported content looks. WPeMatico offers more granular scheduling control and multiple add-ons to customize the features you can use, but it’s not as user-friendly.
Overall, WP RSS Aggregator is the better option for content curation, thanks to its intuitive user interface and filtering system. WPeMatico offers a more classic WordPress interface and if you don’t need advanced filtering tools, it’s an option worth considering.
If you’re still on the fence about which plugin to use, we recommend that you take the time to test both. WP RSS Aggregator and WPeMatico offer free and premium versions, so you can start using them immediately.
