The Best RSS Feed Validators to Use

Jun. 10 2022 · 3 min read

Creating an RSS feed is simple. With so many apps out there that can be used to generate RSS feeds from almost any website, it can become difficult to see if your feed is valid or not. That's why it’s important to use a RSS feed validator to check your feeds.

Why do you need to validate your RSS feed?

Although there are many services that provide RSS feeds, it's always good to check if the feed you are provided with is valid. The XML file could contain errors that can easily be caught with a validator.

If you are using a content management system (CMS) to build your website, many of them have their own requirements for integrating RSS feeds. Using a RSS feed validator will help standardize the feed to be compatible with any CMS you use.

How do you know your RSS feed is valid?

Using tools like RSS validators, you are given the status of your feed immediately. They will let you know if the feed is valid or not and how to fix the errors if there are any.

Here are the best free RSS feed validators:

1. RSS Viewer

RSS Viewer offers a seamless experience for users looking to validate feeds. By entering any feed URL, you can instantly view its content. You also have the option to create a widget directly from the viewed feed, making it an easy all-in-one solution for feed validation and feed integration.

2. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

This is the easiest and most popular feed validator. This site can validate both RSS and Atom feeds for free! All you need to do is enter the URL of your feed and click ‘Check’. It will let you know if your feed is valid and if not, it will tell you which line of your feed has an error and how to fix it.

3. Podbase

This site is good for validating podcast feeds. When Podbase runs the test to see if the feed is valid, it checks basics such as: is the feed in XML format, and does it have a compatible iTunes SSL certificate? It also checks to see if the feed is a good URL based on the domain, and if the feed is compatible with Apple’s iTunes requirements. This includes things like cover art, iTunes summary, and valid tags.

4. Cast Feed

This is another good tool for validating podcast feeds. Once you enter the URL of your feed, Cast Feed will check the formatting of the RSS feed and let you know if the feed is a valid XML. It will also analyze the cover art of the podcast and how fast the media is between the host and the feed.