News · alternatives
Alternatives to Apple News
21 news tools sit alongside Apple News in this directory. Below is what separates each from Apple News on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 21
- With a free tier
- 11
- Cheaper to start
- 3
- Apple News starts at
- $12.99/month
Why people look past Apple News
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Apple News entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for Apple News carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 11 of the 21 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The all-in-one platform for newsletter creators
- Can be used without paying; Apple News cannot.
- Starts $30.009999999999998 a month dearer, at $43/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 4 tiers to Apple News's 2.
Organize, read, and share content you care about
- Can be used without paying; Apple News cannot.
The content reader for power users
- Can be used without paying; Apple News cannot.
- Starts $5.49 a month cheaper, at $7.5/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Apple News's 2.
Real-time analytics for publishers
- Starts $987.01 a month dearer, at $1000/month.
- Sold on a quote model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Apple News's 2.
Free open source RSS reader for Mac and iOS, with no subscription, no ads and no feed limit
- Can be used without paying; Apple News cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Apple News's 2.
Subscription RSS and social feed reader for Apple platforms, with a separate one-time Classic version
- Can be used without paying; Apple News cannot.
- Starts $2.99 a year cheaper, at $10/year.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Apple News's 2.
Every Apple News alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple News (this page) | $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | |
| BeehiivThe all-in-one platform for newsletter creators | Free, then $43/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Apple News |
| FeedlyOrganize, read, and share content you care about | Free | - | - | vs Apple News |
| InoreaderThe content reader for power users | Free, then $7.5/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Apple News |
| ChartbeatReal-time analytics for publishers | $1000/month | Quote | 1 | vs Apple News |
| NetNewsWire | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Apple News |
| Reeder | Free, then $10/year | Per user per month | 3 | vs Apple News |
| ConvertKit | Free, then $33/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Apple News |
| Ghost | Free, then $15/month | - | 4 | vs Apple News |
| Google News | Free | Free | 1 | vs Apple News |
| Free | Free | 1 | vs Apple News | |
| Buttondown | Free, then $9/month | - | 2 | vs Apple News |
| Artifact | Free | Free | 1 | vs Apple News |
| GlobeNewswire | On request | Usage-based | 4 | vs Apple News |
| CrowdTangle | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Apple News |
| Brightspot | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Apple News |
| EIN Presswire | On request | Usage-based | 3 | vs Apple News |
| Feedbin | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs Apple News |
| Cision | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs Apple News |
| Agility PR Solutions | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Apple News |
| Arc Publishing | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Apple News |
| Ghost CMS | $18/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Apple News |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Apple News badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (11)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Beehiiv , Free, then $43/month
- Feedly , Free
- Inoreader , Free, then $7.5/month
- NetNewsWire , Free
- Reeder , Free, then $10/year
- ConvertKit , Free, then $33/month
- Ghost , Free, then $15/month
- Google News , Free
Cheaper than Apple News (3)
Entry price under Apple News's $12.99/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Inoreader , Free, then $7.5/month
- Reeder , Free, then $10/year
- Buttondown , Free, then $9/month
What you would be giving up
Apple News is most often brought in for daily news reading, magazine subscription, news discovery, staying informed. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Apple News is broadly right and the question is cost, the Apple News pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the News category lists everything the directory holds, and best news tools ranks them.
Apple News runs on ios, macos. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Apple News alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Apple News?
- 21 other news tools are listed in this directory, led by Beehiiv, Feedly, Inoreader, Chartbeat. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Apple News?
- 11 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Beehiiv, Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, Reeder.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Apple News?
- Yes. 3 of the alternatives below start under Apple News's $12.99/month: Inoreader at Free, then $7.5/month, Reeder at Free, then $10/year, Buttondown at Free, then $9/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Apple News?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Apple News?
- Apple News is most often brought in for daily news reading, magazine subscription, news discovery, staying informed. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Apple News?
- None of the news tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Apple News alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, News, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Apple News against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Apple News covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every news tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the News category, 21 tools beside Apple News. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.