News Explorer vs Newsify
We give News Explorer a 3.0 GPA and Newsify a 3.2, out of 4.0. News Explorer grades higher on value for money and features. Newsify grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
News Explorer
RSS reader with iCloud sync across Apple devices, bought once
Free trial · from $4.99 one-time
Newsify
RSS reader with a newspaper-style layout for Apple devices and web
Free plan · from $2.99/mo
How we grade them
| 3.0GPANews ExplorerVery good | 3.2GPANewsifyVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$4.99 once covers iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV, and the Mac app is $9.99 once. Both together come to less than most reading apps charge for a year. The Mac edition is also included in Setapp. | BPremium is $2.99 a month, $8.99 for 3 months or $29.99 a year on the US App Store. Fair, not a bargain: the reading itself is free, so what you're buying is extras like full text and mute filters. If only the ads bother you, there's a separate Remove Ads purchase listed at $2.99. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's no free version. The Mac edition has a 14-day free trial, downloaded from Betamagic's own site, and the listing doesn't say whether it needs a card. The App Store editions are paid up front. | AThe free app does the real job: feed reading, sync through Newsify, Feedly or iCloud, offline reading with images, themes and article search. You could stay on it. What you put up with is ads in the article list. Premium has a 7-day free trial. |
| Features | ARSS, Atom and JSON feeds plus Mastodon, Bluesky, Reddit, YouTube and podcasts. It downloads the full article into a clean Reader view, has filters that sync, and prefilters that stop unwanted articles arriving at all. You can read comments in the app and add notes and tags. | BNewspaper, large, table and split layouts, three ways to sync, offline reading and a web reader. Solid. But full text for partial feeds, full-text search and mute filters all need Premium, and Feedly is the only third-party sync service listed. |
| Ease of use | BThere's no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is as high as we go. Sync is iCloud, so there's no account to make and no service to connect. The Apple Watch app does need a paired iPhone. | BThere's no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is as high as we go. You can start without an account and sync through iCloud, and articles and their images download during sync for reading offline. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV, sharing out to Instapaper, Raindrop.io and Readwise. All Apple, though, with no web, Windows or Android version. Current versions need macOS 15.6 or iOS 18. | BiPhone, iPad and Mac apps, plus a web reader at newsify.co if you use a Newsify account. It shares out to Instapaper, Pinboard, Evernote and Buffer. There's no Android or Windows app. |
| Best for | a pay-once feed reader with iCloud sync | feeds laid out like a newspaper page |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: News Explorer and Newsify. How we grade
Where they differ
- News Explorer starts at $4.99 one-time for the mobile edition; $9.99 one-time for the Mac edition. Newsify starts at $2.99 per month, or $29.99 per year (US App Store).
- Newsify has a free plan. News Explorer does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Newsify lists a web app.
- News Explorer can be bought with a one-time purchase.
In commonmacOSiOSRSS reader
At a glance
| News Explorer | Newsify | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 one-time for the mobile edition; $9.99 one-time for the Mac edition | $2.99 per month, or $29.99 per year (US App Store) |
| Free plan | None | The app is free to download and use: feed reading, sync through Newsify, Feedly or iCloud, offline reading with image caching, themes and article search. Ads appear in the article list. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Mac edition, downloaded from the Betamagic website | 7-day free trial of Newsify Premium, started from the app's settings |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Betamagic | Ben Alexander |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
News Explorer
- People on Apple devices who want feed sync without creating an account
- Readers who would rather pay once than subscribe
- Following Reddit, YouTube, Mastodon and podcast feeds alongside RSS
Newsify
- iPhone, iPad and Mac users who like a newspaper-style layout for feeds
- Feedly users who want an Apple client for their account
- People who read feeds offline, with images cached ahead of time
Worth knowing
News Explorer
- Built only for Apple platforms, with syncing that relies on iCloud; there is no web, Windows or Android version.
- The Mac app and the mobile app are separate purchases, listed at $9.99 and $4.99 on the US App Store.
- The 14-day trial is a download of the Mac edition; the App Store editions are paid up front.
- Current versions need macOS 15.6 or iOS and iPadOS 18 or later, and the Apple Watch app needs a paired iPhone.
Newsify
- There is no Android or Windows app, and the FAQ says an Android version is not planned.
- The free app shows ads in the article list; removing them takes Premium or a separate Remove Ads purchase listed at $2.99.
- Automatic full text, full-text search, mute filters and faster updates all require Newsify Premium.
- The web reader needs a Newsify account, and Feedly is the only third-party sync service listed.
Key features
News Explorer
- iCloud sync without an account
- Feeds, folders, articles, read status, favorites, filters, notes and tags sync through iCloud across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV, with no other service to sign up for.
- Many feed types
- Reads RSS, Atom, RDF and JSON feeds along with Mastodon, Bluesky, Reddit, YouTube channel and podcast feeds, and a built-in search finds new feeds by keyword.
- Automatic Reader view
- For supported sources the app downloads the full original article and shows it in a clean format. Several Reader view engines are available and can be chosen per feed.
- Smart filters and prefilters
- Sidebar filters match on title, content, author, tags or dates, and prefilters stop unwanted articles from being downloaded at all. Both sync between devices through iCloud.
- Article comments
- Comments can be read inside the app for feeds that publish a comment feed per article, and for YouTube, Reddit and Hacker News feeds.
- Notes, tags and sharing
- Rich-text notes and custom tags can be attached to articles, and built-in sharing sends items to Instapaper, Raindrop.io and Readwise.
Newsify
- Newspaper-style article lists
- Article lists can be shown as a newspaper-like page, a large view, a traditional table or a split view on iPad, with thumbnails when the feed supplies them.
- Three ways to sync
- Sync through a Newsify account or Feedly, or use the app without an account and sync through iCloud. Multiple accounts can be added on iOS and macOS.
- Offline reading
- Articles and their images are downloaded during sync for reading offline on iOS and macOS. Only the feed content is saved unless Premium's full-text caching is used.
- Web reader
- People with a Newsify account can also read their feeds in a web browser at newsify.co, in addition to the iPhone, iPad and Mac apps.
- Automatic full text
- Premium fetches the full text of most partial feeds automatically, saves it for offline reading and lets search cover the full text. Summaries through Apple Intelligence are a beta Premium feature.
- Newsify Account Plus
- With Premium, a Newsify account gains mute filters, receives new items up to 10 times faster and keeps more feed history.
Plans
News Explorer
Mobile edition$4.99
one-time purchase (US App Store)
Universal purchase covering iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV. It does not include the Mac app.
Mac edition$9.99
one-time purchase (US Mac App Store)
The macOS app. Also sold as a Personal License in the Betamagic Store, where the 14-day trial is offered, and included in Setapp.
Newsify
Free$0
Feed reading with Newsify, Feedly or iCloud sync, offline reading with image caching, themes and article search, with ads in the article list.
Newsify Premium$2.99
per month; $8.99 for 3 months or $29.99 per year
Automatic full text saved for offline reading, more images, full-text search, mute filters, faster updates, no ads and priority support.
Ways to pay less
News Explorer
No public discounts listed.
Newsify
- Annual discount
About 16% off with the yearly plan
The US App Store listing gives Newsify Premium as $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year, so a year paid up front costs about 16% less than twelve monthly payments.
