Atom vs. RSS 2.0

When it comes to syndicating web content, two major formats dominate the landscape: RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0. While both serve the same fundamental purpose—distributing updates from websites—they have distinct technical differences and histories.

This guide explores the key differences to help developers and content creators choose the right format.

Feature Comparison Table

RSS 2.0: The Popular Choice

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is currently the most widely used format, primarily because it was the default for WordPress for many years and podcasting relies almost exclusively on RSS 2.0 (with iTunes extensions).

Pros:

• Widely supported by almost every legacy reader and parser.
• Required for Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• Simpler structure, easier to read by humans.

Atom 1.0: The Modern Standard

Atom was developed to address ambiguities in the RSS specification. It is an IETF standard (RFC 4287) and is generally considered more technically robust.

Pros:

• Strict standardization (less ambiguity for parsers).
• Better handling of international characters (xml:lang).
• Native support for relative URLs (RSS requires absolute).
• Explicit distinction between “summary” and “full content”.

Recommendation: Which One?

Use RSS 2.0 if: You are creating a podcast feed or need maximum backward compatibility with very old systems.

Use Atom 1.0 if: You are building a new data syndication system, need precise date formatting, or robust internationalization support.

Better yet: Support both! Most modern CMSs generate both formats automatically.