theSkimm vs Stream
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
theSkimm
Stay informed with daily news summaries, in-depth articles on career, health, and finance, and engaging podcasts. Discover personalized recommendations and integrate events into your calendar to live smarter.
- Daily news summaries
- In-depth articles
- Podcasts
- Personalized calendar integration
- Curated recommendations
- Career, health, and finance topics
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Meet: theSkimm app. We’ve got you covered on all the news and info you need to start your day. Think: news, podcasts, curated picks, and a personalized calendar to help you live your smartest life. Try the app for free. After that, pay less than a cup of coffee a month. Wake up with us. It all starts with the Daily Skimm – the morning newsletter that connects the dots on how the biggest stories affect your life. Dive deeper. We help you navigate the complicated topics around your career, health, and wallet. Listen in. Meet our podcasts: “Skimm This” explains the week’s biggest stories. “Skimm’d from the Couch” features advice from female leaders. Stay up-to-date. Our calendar integrates with yours so you never miss important moments, like awards shows, elections, and more. Discover more. We Skimm your shopping cart, streaming queue, and bookshelf. We'll help you discover things quicker, so you can spend your downtime smarter. ------- In-app purchase subscription required. All monthly subscriptions begin with a free trial, after which a recurring charge of $2.99 per month. All yearly subscriptions are charged $29.99 at the time of purchase, with a recurring charge billed annually. Details: - Subscription options: monthly subscription of $2.99 per month, or yearly subscription of $29.99 per year - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period - theSkimm's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use can be visited at http://theskimm.com/privacy - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication
Stream
Consolidate all your news feeds into a single, unified timeline. Offers a clean interface, easy import of existing lists, and support for open reading standards for a fresh user experience.
- Unified feed timeline
- Simple user interface
- Import existing lists
- Supports open reading standards
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With Stream all your feeds appear as a unified timeline. With its simple user interface, ability to import existing lists, and support for open reading standards, Stream is a great choice if you're looking for a different experience.
Screenshots
Verdict
theSkimm and Stream both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 86% of Stream's written reviews are positive against 41% of theSkimm's. theSkimm's advantage is ratings volume (13K vs 21) and chart position (#195 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. theSkimm sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Stream sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
theSkimm holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: theSkimm has 13K ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 41% of theSkimm's written reviews are positive against 86% of Stream's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
theSkimm ships an update every 2 months, Stream every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | theSkimm | Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (13K ratings) — better | 4.6 (21 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 40.7% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 13K — better | 21 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #195 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | theSkimm | Rob Fahrni |
Customer experience
theSkimm
Stream
Bugs and requests
theSkimm
Reported bugs
2 issues- App crashes and freezes
- Issues with 'Do Not Sell My Information' feature
Requested features
4 requests- Offline content access
- More international news coverage
- Customizable news preferences
- Ability to remove ads for paid subscribers
Stream
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
theSkimm
- theSkimm Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- theSkimm Yearly$29.991 Year
Stream
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$1.99
- Large Tip$4.99
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- Enormous Tip$9.99









