NetNewsWire vs WatchFeed
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NetNewsWire
This app aggregates articles from your favorite blogs and news sites, offering a faster and more organized way to consume content. It provides control over your news feed, eliminating the need to visit multiple websites or rely on social media algorithms. Enjoy a streamlined reading experience with customizable features and syncing capabilities.
- Direct feed downloading
- iCloud and third-party syncing
- Customizable article themes
- Reader view
- Starred articles
- Smart feeds
- Home screen widgets
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It’s like podcasts, but for reading. NetNewsWire is a free and open source RSS reader. It shows you articles from your favorite blogs and news sites and keeps track of what you’ve read. It’s fast, stable, and accessible. If you’ve been going from site to site in your browser looking for new articles to read — or counting on the unreliable algorithms of corporate social media — let NetNewsWire bring you the news you want. It’s easy and fun. And it puts you, not billionaires, in control of your news. Features: * Direct feed downloading * Syncing via iCloud, Feedbin, Feedly, BazQux, Inoreader, NewsBlur, The Old Reader, and FreshRSS * Multiple accounts * Custom article themes * Reader view * Share sheet * Starred articles * All Unread and Today smart feeds * Folders * Importing and exporting OPML feed lists * Background refreshing * Searching * Hiding read articles * Timeline customization * Keyboard shortcuts * Context menus * Home screen widgets for today, unread, and starred articles * Share extension
WatchFeed
This app brings the Feedly RSS reader experience to your Apple Watch. Access your feeds, mark articles as read, and save them to boards directly from your wrist. It also offers customizable complications for quick access to top stories or unread counts.
- Feedly integration
- Access All and Favourites feeds
- Mark as Read functionality
- Save to Board feature
- Top Story complication
- Unread Count complication
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WatchFeed brings the beloved news reader Feedly to the Apple Watch. With many features similar to those that the iPhone app provides like Feeds, the All feed, the Favourites feed, Mark as Read and Save to Board, WatchFeed is the best RSS reader with Feedly integration available for the Apple Watch. WatchFeed also supports all complications. There is a Top Story complication that shows a popular article on the Graphic and Modular Watch faces and an Unread Count complication on all Watch faces.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: NetNewsWire at Free against WatchFeed's $0.99. NetNewsWire also leads on ratings volume (887 vs 5) and update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). WatchFeed's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and chart position (#8 vs #118). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
NetNewsWire is free to download; WatchFeed costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
WatchFeed holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NetNewsWire has 887 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 84% of NetNewsWire's written reviews are positive against 67% of WatchFeed's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
NetNewsWire ships an update monthly, WatchFeed every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NetNewsWire | WatchFeed |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (887 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.9% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 887 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #118 | #8 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Brent Simmons | Nienhuis Development |
Customer experience
NetNewsWire
WatchFeed
In-app purchases
NetNewsWire
No in-app purchases
WatchFeed
No in-app purchases
