RSS vs Atom Feed

This tag compares RSS and Atom, the two standardized syndication feed formats that serve the same basic purpose — listing a site's content in a structured, machine-readable way — but differ in their technical specification and history. Articles here explain the practical differences between the formats, why both are still in active use across different platforms and content management systems, and why it generally doesn't matter which one a given site publishes when it comes to automation. PostRSS, like most automation tools, reads both RSS and Atom feeds interchangeably, so this tag is aimed at satisfying reader curiosity about the distinction rather than flagging a compatibility concern. It's a useful reference for anyone who has noticed a site's feed URL ending in 'atom.xml' instead of the more familiar 'rss' or 'feed' and wondered whether that changes anything. Expect a format-level technical comparison here.