News · alternatives
Alternatives to SmartNews
22 news tools sit alongside SmartNews in this directory. Below is what separates each from SmartNews on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 11
- Cheaper to start
- -
- SmartNews starts at
- Free
Why people look past SmartNews
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the SmartNews entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
SmartNews publishes a single plan, Free at Free. 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
- Publishes an entry price of $43/month, where SmartNews does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than free.
- 4 tiers to SmartNews's 1.
Organize, read, and share content you care about
Priced and rated the same as SmartNews on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
The content reader for power users
- Publishes an entry price of $7.5/month, where SmartNews does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than free.
- 3 tiers to SmartNews's 1.
Real-time analytics for publishers
- No free tier, where SmartNews has one.
- Publishes an entry price of $1000/month, where SmartNews does not.
- Sold on a quote model rather than free.
Free open source RSS reader for Mac and iOS, with no subscription, no ads and no feed limit
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than free.
Subscription RSS and social feed reader for Apple platforms, with a separate one-time Classic version
- Publishes an entry price of $10/year, where SmartNews does not.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than free.
- 3 tiers to SmartNews's 1.
Every SmartNews 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SmartNews (this page) | Free | Free | 1 | |
| BeehiivThe all-in-one platform for newsletter creators | Free, then $43/month | Freemium | 4 | vs SmartNews |
| FeedlyOrganize, read, and share content you care about | Free | - | - | vs SmartNews |
| InoreaderThe content reader for power users | Free, then $7.5/month | Freemium | 3 | vs SmartNews |
| ChartbeatReal-time analytics for publishers | $1000/month | Quote | 1 | vs SmartNews |
| NetNewsWire | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs SmartNews |
| Reeder | Free, then $10/year | Per user per month | 3 | vs SmartNews |
| ConvertKit | Free, then $33/month | Freemium | 3 | vs SmartNews |
| Ghost | Free, then $15/month | - | 4 | vs SmartNews |
| Google News | Free | Free | 1 | vs SmartNews |
| Free | Free | 1 | vs SmartNews | |
| Buttondown | Free, then $9/month | - | 2 | vs SmartNews |
| Artifact | Free | Free | 1 | vs SmartNews |
| GlobeNewswire | On request | Usage-based | 4 | vs SmartNews |
| Apple News | $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs SmartNews |
| CrowdTangle | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SmartNews |
| Brightspot | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SmartNews |
| EIN Presswire | On request | Usage-based | 3 | vs SmartNews |
| Feedbin | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs SmartNews |
| Cision | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs SmartNews |
| Agility PR Solutions | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs SmartNews |
| Arc Publishing | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SmartNews |
| Ghost CMS | $18/month | Subscription | 4 | vs SmartNews |
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 SmartNews 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
What you would be giving up
SmartNews is most often brought in for daily news, local news, breaking news, quick reading. 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 SmartNews is broadly right and the question is cost, the SmartNews 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.
SmartNews runs on ios, android. 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 SmartNews alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to SmartNews?
- 22 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 SmartNews?
- 11 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Beehiiv, Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, Reeder.
- Why do people look for an alternative to SmartNews?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from SmartNews?
- SmartNews is most often brought in for daily news, local news, breaking news, quick reading. 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 SmartNews?
- 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 SmartNews 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 SmartNews against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against SmartNews 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, 22 tools beside SmartNews. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.