# Hackery vs An Otter RSS Reader

The clearest difference is review sentiment: An Otter RSS Reader at 60% against Hackery's 0%. An Otter RSS Reader also leads on rating (4.1 vs 3.0) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 4 months). Hackery's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Hackery sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and An Otter RSS Reader sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

An Otter RSS Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: An Otter RSS Reader has 73 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Hackery's written reviews are positive against 60% of An Otter RSS Reader's.

Hackery ships an update every 4 months, An Otter RSS Reader every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Hackery | An Otter RSS Reader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackery/id1095090759/reviews) | **[4.1 (73 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/an-otter-rss-reader/id1529696614/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 4 | **73** |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | **60.4% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Every 3 days** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 12 MB | 45 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **17.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Tim Shim](https://appshunter.io/developer/322829589) | [Josh Holtz](https://appshunter.io/developer/1460622095) |

## What reviewers say

### Hackery

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackery/id1095090759)

A fast and clean client for browsing Hacker News stories, complete with scores, comments, and authors. Save articles for later reading with iCloud syncing and engage in discussions with nested, threaded comments. Features on-device comment moderation for a focused reading experience.

**Highlights:** Card-based story layout, Save stories for later, iCloud sync for bookmarks, Nested threaded comments, On-device comment moderation, Dark theme support

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Buy me a coffee | $4.99 | one-time |


### An Otter RSS Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/an-otter-rss-reader/id1529696614)

A minimalistic RSS reader that synchronizes your subscribed feeds across Apple devices via iCloud. It allows for automatic feed discovery, organization into folders, and reading articles in a standard web view. Integrates with Shortcuts and offers home screen widgets for unread counts.

**Highlights:** iCloud feed synchronization, Auto-discover RSS feeds, Group feeds into folders, Read articles in web view, Shortcuts integration, Home screen widgets, Import/Export with OPML

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Otter Pro Annual | $9.99 | per year |
| Small Tip | $0.99 | one-time |
| Medium Tip | $2.99 | one-time |
| Large Tip | $5.99 | one-time |
| Mega Tip | $12.99 | one-time |
| Otter Pro Lifetime | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Elegant and convenient
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Cute RSS reader in every way
- 👍 Works Great, syncs on all iOS Devices
- 👍 More than an 'okay minimalistic app'

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 It does not work
- 🐛 Abandoned app
- 🐛 Bug list view dark mode
- 🐛 Only shows a couple of entries
- 🐛 Missing keyboard shortcuts

**Reported bugs**

- It does not work
- Articles flicker in and out of existence and about 30 of them don't show at all
- The list views are messed up with many black spaces where a feed item should appear but is completely black
- Reader mode seems to not work
- Articles show up in duplicated often, articles had been marked as read will show up again as unread

**Requested features**

- Encripted iCloud backups would be welcome
- Mark articles read on scrolling past them
- Option to hide read articles by default instead of manually hiding all the time
- When clicking on a top level folder it expands the folder clicking the arrow should expand the folder
- Needs swipe gestures example swipe right mark read/unread swipe left add to favorite


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Hackery free?

Hackery is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is An Otter RSS Reader free?

An Otter RSS Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Hackery or An Otter RSS Reader?

An Otter RSS Reader is rated higher. Hackery averages 3.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while An Otter RSS Reader averages 4.1 from 73 ratings.

### Do Hackery or An Otter RSS Reader have ads?

Neither Hackery nor An Otter RSS Reader shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Hackery or An Otter RSS Reader?

Hackery ships an update every 4 months, and An Otter RSS Reader every 3 days. Most recently, Hackery was updated on November 2, 2026 and An Otter RSS Reader on November 3, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*