News · alternatives
Alternatives to Steno
22 news tools sit alongside Steno in this directory. Below is what separates each from Steno 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
- 8
- Steno starts at
- $500/month
Why people look past Steno
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Steno entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Steno starts at $500/month. Across the 9 news tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $15/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Steno carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 11 of the 22 alternatives below can be used without paying.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
Steno publishes 4 tiers, from $500/month up to On request. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the Steno pricing page breaks each one down.
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; Steno cannot.
- Starts $457 a month cheaper, at $43/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
Organize, read, and share content you care about
- Can be used without paying; Steno cannot.
The content reader for power users
- Can be used without paying; Steno cannot.
- Starts $492.5 a month cheaper, at $7.5/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Steno's 4.
Real-time analytics for publishers
- Starts $500 a month dearer, at $1000/month.
- Sold on a quote model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Steno's 4.
Free open source RSS reader for Mac and iOS, with no subscription, no ads and no feed limit
- Can be used without paying; Steno cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Steno's 4.
Subscription RSS and social feed reader for Apple platforms, with a separate one-time Classic version
- Can be used without paying; Steno cannot.
- Starts $490 a year cheaper, at $10/year.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Steno's 4.
Every Steno 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steno (this page) | $500/month | Subscription | 4 | |
| BeehiivThe all-in-one platform for newsletter creators | Free, then $43/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Steno |
| FeedlyOrganize, read, and share content you care about | Free | - | - | vs Steno |
| InoreaderThe content reader for power users | Free, then $7.5/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Steno |
| ChartbeatReal-time analytics for publishers | $1000/month | Quote | 1 | vs Steno |
| NetNewsWire | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Steno |
| Reeder | Free, then $10/year | Per user per month | 3 | vs Steno |
| ConvertKit | Free, then $33/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Steno |
| Ghost | Free, then $15/month | - | 4 | vs Steno |
| Google News | Free | Free | 1 | vs Steno |
| Free | Free | 1 | vs Steno | |
| Buttondown | Free, then $9/month | - | 2 | vs Steno |
| Artifact | Free | Free | 1 | vs Steno |
| GlobeNewswire | On request | Usage-based | 4 | vs Steno |
| Apple News | $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Steno |
| CrowdTangle | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Steno |
| Brightspot | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Steno |
| EIN Presswire | On request | Usage-based | 3 | vs Steno |
| Feedbin | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs Steno |
| Cision | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs Steno |
| Agility PR Solutions | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Steno |
| Arc Publishing | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Steno |
| Ghost CMS | $18/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Steno |
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 Steno 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 Steno (8)
Entry price under Steno's $500/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
Steno is most often brought in for ai-powered content creation platform, voice and text content generation, multi-channel content distribution, programmatic content syndication. 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 Steno is broadly right and the question is cost, the Steno 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.
Steno 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 Steno alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Steno?
- 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 Steno?
- 11 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Beehiiv, Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, Reeder.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Steno?
- Yes. 8 of the alternatives below start under Steno's $500/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 Steno?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; cost climbs steeply across the tiers. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Steno?
- Steno is most often brought in for ai-powered content creation platform, voice and text content generation, multi-channel content distribution, programmatic content syndication. 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 Steno?
- 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 Steno 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 Steno against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Steno 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 Steno. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.