News · alternatives
Alternatives to Chartbeat
21 news tools sit alongside Chartbeat in this directory. Below is what separates each from Chartbeat 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
- 8
- Chartbeat starts at
- $1000/month
Why people look past Chartbeat
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Chartbeat entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Chartbeat starts at $1000/month. Across the 8 news tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $14/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Chartbeat carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 11 of the 21 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
Chartbeat publishes a single plan, Professional at $1000/month. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
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; Chartbeat cannot.
- Starts $957 a month cheaper, at $43/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than quote.
- 4 tiers to Chartbeat's 1.
Organize, read, and share content you care about
- Can be used without paying; Chartbeat cannot.
The content reader for power users
- Can be used without paying; Chartbeat cannot.
- Starts $992.5 a month cheaper, at $7.5/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than quote.
- 3 tiers to Chartbeat's 1.
The complete PR and earned media platform
- Sold on a subscription model rather than quote.
- 2 tiers to Chartbeat's 1.
Free open source RSS reader for Mac and iOS, with no subscription, no ads and no feed limit
- Can be used without paying; Chartbeat cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than quote.
Subscription RSS and social feed reader for Apple platforms, with a separate one-time Classic version
- Can be used without paying; Chartbeat cannot.
- Starts $990 a year cheaper, at $10/year.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than quote.
- 3 tiers to Chartbeat's 1.
Every Chartbeat 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chartbeat (this page) | $1000/month | Quote | 1 | |
| BeehiivThe all-in-one platform for newsletter creators | Free, then $43/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Chartbeat |
| FeedlyOrganize, read, and share content you care about | Free | - | - | vs Chartbeat |
| InoreaderThe content reader for power users | Free, then $7.5/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Chartbeat |
| CisionThe complete PR and earned media platform | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs Chartbeat |
| NetNewsWire | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Chartbeat |
| Reeder | Free, then $10/year | Per user per month | 3 | vs Chartbeat |
| ConvertKit | Free, then $33/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Chartbeat |
| Ghost | Free, then $15/month | - | 4 | vs Chartbeat |
| Google News | Free | Free | 1 | vs Chartbeat |
| Free | Free | 1 | vs Chartbeat | |
| Buttondown | Free, then $9/month | - | 2 | vs Chartbeat |
| Artifact | Free | Free | 1 | vs Chartbeat |
| GlobeNewswire | On request | Usage-based | 4 | vs Chartbeat |
| Apple News | $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Chartbeat |
| CrowdTangle | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Chartbeat |
| Brightspot | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Chartbeat |
| EIN Presswire | On request | Usage-based | 3 | vs Chartbeat |
| Feedbin | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs Chartbeat |
| Agility PR Solutions | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Chartbeat |
| Arc Publishing | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Chartbeat |
| Ghost CMS | $18/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Chartbeat |
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 Chartbeat 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 Chartbeat (8)
Entry price under Chartbeat's $1000/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Beehiiv , Free, then $43/month
- Inoreader , Free, then $7.5/month
- Reeder , Free, then $10/year
- ConvertKit , Free, then $33/month
- Ghost , Free, then $15/month
- Buttondown , Free, then $9/month
- Apple News , $12.99/month
- Ghost CMS , $18/month
What you would be giving up
Chartbeat is most often brought in for publisher analytics. 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 Chartbeat is broadly right and the question is cost, the Chartbeat 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.
Chartbeat runs on web. 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 Chartbeat alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Chartbeat?
- 21 other news tools are listed in this directory, led by Beehiiv, Feedly, Inoreader, Cision. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Chartbeat?
- 11 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Beehiiv, Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, Reeder.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Chartbeat?
- Yes. 8 of the alternatives below start under Chartbeat's $1000/month: Beehiiv at Free, then $43/month, Inoreader at Free, then $7.5/month, Reeder at Free, then $10/year, ConvertKit at Free, then $33/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Chartbeat?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Chartbeat?
- Chartbeat is most often brought in for publisher analytics. 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 Chartbeat?
- 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 Chartbeat 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 Chartbeat against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Chartbeat 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 Chartbeat. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.