News Explorer vs Unread
We give News Explorer a 3.0 GPA and Unread a 3.2, out of 4.0. News Explorer grades higher on value for money. Unread grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
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
Unread
RSS reader for Mac, iPhone and iPad with full-text retrieval
How we grade them
| 3.0GPANews ExplorerVery good | 3.2GPAUnreadVery 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 $29.99 a year, or $4.99 a month, and covers Mac, iPhone and iPad. Fair, not a bargain: the reading itself is free, so what you're buying is extras like offline caching and article actions. Plinky Pro subscribers get the yearly plan at 50% off. |
| 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. | AMost of it is free: reading, syncing through Unread Cloud or your feed service, full article text, themes and search. Plenty of people could stop there. Premium is offline caching, article actions, Shortcuts and Save to Unread. |
| 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. | AIt spots feeds that only carry summaries and shows the full article from the web page instead. You can even sign in to news sites that need an account. It syncs with Feedbin, Feedly, Inoreader, NewsBlur and self-hosted servers, with widgets and share extensions on top. |
| 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. | B4.59 from 442 App Store ratings. Syncing through Unread Cloud takes a Sign in with Apple and nothing else, and the app decides by itself which feeds need their full text fetched. |
| 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. | CMac, iPhone and iPad, with a long list of feed services and read-later apps it can talk to. All Apple, though. No web, Windows or Android version is listed. |
| Best for | a pay-once feed reader with iCloud sync | reading summary-only feeds in full on Apple |
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 Unread. 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. Unread starts at $29.99 per year, or $4.99 per month.
- Unread has a free plan. News Explorer does not, though it has a free trial.
- News Explorer can be bought with a one-time purchase.
At a glance
| News Explorer | Unread | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 one-time for the mobile edition; $9.99 one-time for the Mac edition | $29.99 per year, or $4.99 per month |
| Free plan | None | Most functionality is free: feed reading, Unread Cloud and third-party sync, automatic webpage text, themes and search. Caching, article actions, Shortcuts and Save to Unread need Premium. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Mac edition, downloaded from the Betamagic website | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Betamagic | Golden Hill Software |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | goldenhillsoftware.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
Unread
- Mac, iPhone and iPad readers who follow feeds that publish only summaries
- People already syncing through Feedbin, Feedly, Inoreader or NewsBlur
- Self-hosters running FreshRSS, Miniflux or a Fever-compatible server
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.
Unread
- Apple platforms only: Mac, iPhone and iPad, with no web, Windows or Android version listed.
- Offline caching, article actions, Shortcuts, Save to Unread and limiting widgets to a feed or folder all require Unread Premium.
- The press kit lists macOS 15, iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 or later as requirements.
- Save to Unread works only with Unread Cloud, Local, Feedbin, Feedly and NewsBlur accounts.
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.
Unread
- Automatic webpage text
- Unread judges whether each feed is summary-only and, if it is, shows the full article text taken from the web page. The default can be changed for individual feeds.
- Unread Cloud and third-party sync
- The free Unread Cloud service syncs devices after Sign in with Apple. Unread also syncs with Feedbin, Feedly, Gobbler, Inkwell, Inoreader and NewsBlur, and with self-hosted Fever, FreshRSS and Miniflux servers.
- Website accounts
- For news sites that require an account, you can sign in from inside Unread, and the app then generates the full article text for that site on the device.
- Caching for offline reading
- With Premium, webpage text and images are cached ahead of time so articles open quickly and remain available offline. Caching can be limited on cellular connections.
- Article actions and Shortcuts
- Premium sends articles to services such as Anybox, GoodLinks, Instapaper, Matter, Pinboard, Plinky, Raindrop.io, Readwise and wallabag, and runs your own Shortcuts on articles and links.
- Share extensions and widgets
- Subscribe in Unread adds a site's feeds from a browser's share sheet, and Save to Unread, a Premium feature, turns the page being viewed into an article. Widgets show recent articles and unread counts.
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.
Unread
Free$0
Feed reading with Unread Cloud or third-party sync, automatic webpage text, website accounts, color themes, search and basic widgets.
Unread Premium$29.99
per year, or $4.99 per month; covers Mac, iPhone and iPad
Adds caching of webpage text and images, article actions, Shortcuts, Save to Unread, widget customization, custom app icons and premium support.
Ways to pay less
News Explorer
No public discounts listed.
Unread
- Annual discount
About 50% off with the yearly subscription
Unread's press kit lists Premium at $29.99 a year or $4.99 a month, so a year paid up front costs about half of twelve monthly payments.
- Other savings
50% off for Plinky Pro subscribers
Golden Hill Software says Plinky Pro subscribers can get an annual Unread Premium subscription at a 50% discount, which continues for as long as they stay subscribed to Plinky Pro.
