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Apple News vs Meltwater

Apple News logo

Apple News

Software

All the news you want. From sources you trust.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Meltwater logo

Meltwater

Software

Media intelligence and social listening platform

From
$15000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Apple News has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Apple News apple News+ costs $12.99 per month in USD after the first month, or is included only via the $39.95 per month USD Apple One Premier bundle; Meltwater real-time accuracy issues reported, particularly for niche industries or non-English content
  • They diverge on capability: Apple News covers Curated news feed, Meltwater covers Media monitoring.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apple News and Meltwater actually diverge.

Attributes where Apple News and Meltwater differ
AttributeApple NewsMeltwater
Starting priceFree$15000/year
Pricing modelfreemiumUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsIos, MacosWeb, iOS, Android
Founded19762001

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Apple News

  • Curated news feed
  • Premium magazines
  • Audio stories
  • Personalization
  • Offline reading
  • iCloud
  • Apple One bundle
  • Siri

Only in Meltwater

  • Media monitoring
  • Social listening
  • Influencer discovery
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Competitive intelligence
  • PR analytics
  • Report automation
  • Crisis monitoring

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Apple News

  • Daily news readingnot Meltwater
  • Magazine subscriptionnot Meltwater
  • News discoverynot Meltwater
  • Staying informednot Meltwater

Meltwater

  • Media monitoringnot Apple News
  • Influencer researchnot Apple News
  • Brand trackingnot Apple News
  • Crisis managementnot Apple News

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Apple News

  • Apple News+ costs $12.99 per month in USD after the first month, or is included only via the $39.95 per month USD Apple One Premier bundle

Meltwater

  • Real-time accuracy issues reported, particularly for niche industries or non-English content
  • Limited media contact database at 380,000-400,000 contacts compared to competitors like Cision
  • Cumbersome dashboard navigation and reporting interface requiring multi-step menu access for data exports
  • Annual contracts with limited ability to scale down; risky for businesses with fluctuating needs

Pricing, plan by plan

Apple News

Free
  • Apple NewsFree
    • Free news articles
    • Personalized feed
    • Topic following
  • Apple News+$12.99/month
    • Premium magazines
    • Major newspapers
    • Audio stories

Meltwater

$15000/year
  • Essentials$15000/year
    • Core media monitoring
    • Brand mention tracking
    • Industry trend monitoring
  • Suite$25000/year
    • Media monitoring
    • Social listening
    • Cross-department analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Apple News if

  • You need curated news feed.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Ios, Macos.
  • You also want premium magazines.
Apple News review

Choose Meltwater if

  • You need media monitoring.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want social listening.
Meltwater review

Questions people ask

Is Apple News or Meltwater better?
Neither clearly leads. Apple News starts at Free and Meltwater at $15000/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apple News or Meltwater?
Apple News has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Apple News and $15000/year for Meltwater.
Does Apple News or Meltwater run on more platforms?
Apple News runs on Ios, Macos. Meltwater runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Apple News for free?
Yes. Apple News has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Meltwater starts at $15000/year.
What is Apple News best used for?
Apple News is most often used for daily news reading, magazine subscription, news discovery, staying informed. Of those, daily news reading and magazine subscription are not what Meltwater is typically brought in for.
What can Apple News do that Meltwater cannot?
Apple News covers Curated news feed, Premium magazines, Audio stories, Personalization. Meltwater covers Media monitoring, Social listening, Influencer discovery, Sentiment analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Meltwater: How much does Meltwater cost?

Meltwater does not publish pricing; all quotes require a sales call and annual contract. Median annual cost is approximately $25,000, with mid-market PR teams typically paying $15,000-$40,000 depending on users, coverage volume, and features.

Source
Meltwater: What sources does Meltwater monitor?

Meltwater monitors 200M+ online publications, 400,000+ traditional media sources, 20,000+ podcasts, TV/radio across all 210 US DMAs, and social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, WeChat, and Weibo.

Source
Meltwater: What languages does Meltwater support?

Meltwater provides global multilingual support with consistent accuracy across 100+ languages for sentiment analysis and content classification.

Source
Meltwater: Does Meltwater include journalist/media contact information?

Meltwater's media database includes approximately 380,000-400,000 contacts, smaller than competitors like Cision (1.1M). Media database and GenAI Lens are separate paid add-ons.

Source
Meltwater: Can I export Meltwater reports?

Yes, Meltwater generates custom dashboards and reports tailored to stakeholders. Mira AI assistant can generate summaries and insights from monitoring data.

Source
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