Comparison

NetNewsWire vs Reeder Classic

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Direct feed downloading
  • iCloud and third-party syncing
  • Customizable article themes
  • Reader view
  • Starred articles
  • Smart feeds
  • Home screen widgets
Currently charting
Read full description

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

About

Reeder Classic

This app combines an RSS reader and a read-later client, offering iCloud syncing for your news feeds and saved articles. It features a focus-enhancing reading mode, customizable widgets, and the ability to mark items as read while scrolling. Enjoy a clutter-free reading experience with its reader view.

Highlights
  • RSS feed reader
  • Read later client
  • iCloud syncing
  • Bionic Reading mode
  • Customizable widgets
  • Mark as read on scroll
  • Reader view
Currently charting
Read full description

Keep control of your news reading with Reeder Classic, RSS reader and read later client in one app, now with support for iCloud syncing. FEEDS Sync all your feeds and articles with iCloud. Reeder Classic comes with a built-in RSS/Feeds service which will keep everything in sync on all your devices. Of course, this is optional. You can still just use one of the many third-party services supported by Reeder or just RSS (without sync). READ LATER This is Reeder's built-in read later service which stores all your data securely in iCloud. A sharing extension allows you to add links from outside of Reeder. BIONIC READING A higher dimension of reading. With Bionic Reading you read texts with more focus, awareness, and sustainability. Read more about Bionic Reading at bionic-reading.com. WIDGETS View most recent articles, configurable to only show items from feeds, folders, searches (for services that support searches) or tags (for read later services). MARK AS READ ON SCROLL With version 5, Reeder finally supports marking items as read while scrolling. Off by default, this can be enabled on a per-account basis. READER VIEW Enter Reader View (for feed items and read later links that support this) for a clutter-free reading experience directly in Reeder's article viewer. You can enable "Automatic Reader View" on a per-feed basis to always load items of a feed with Reader View. SUPPORTED THIRD-PARTY SERVICES Feedbin, Feedly, FeedHQ, NewsBlur, The Old Reader, Inoreader, BazQux Reader, FreshRSS, Instapaper and Pocket.

Screenshots

NetNewsWire4 screens
Reeder Classic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: NetNewsWire at Free against Reeder Classic's $4.99. NetNewsWire also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (85% vs 61%). Reeder Classic's advantage is chart position (#1 vs #151) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

NetNewsWire is free to download; Reeder Classic costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

NetNewsWire holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 882 and 821 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of NetNewsWire's written reviews are positive against 61% of Reeder Classic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NetNewsWire ships an update monthly, Reeder Classic every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
NetNewsWire versus Reeder Classic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNetNewsWireReeder Classic
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.7 (882 ratings) — better4.1 (821 ratings)
Positive reviews84.7% of reviews — better60.7% of reviews
Number of ratings882 — better821
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#151#1 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB24 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperBrent SimmonsSilvio Rizzi

Customer experience

NetNewsWire

All ratings882 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral2.3%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews321 reviews
Positive84.7%
Neutral7.5%
Negative7.8%

Reeder Classic

All ratings821 ratings
Positive75.9%
Neutral5.7%
Negative18.4%
Written reviews517 reviews
Positive60.7%
Neutral11.6%
Negative27.7%

Bugs and requests

NetNewsWire

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Reeder Classic

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Articles not loading properly
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between articles
  • Unreliable background sync
  • Issues with Twitter integration

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to filter feeds by keywords
  • Option to change app icon
  • Support for more languages
  • Tighter integration with Matter app
  • Offline reading mode
Show 1 more
  • Text-to-speech support

In-app purchases

None

NetNewsWire

No in-app purchases

None

Reeder Classic

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NetNewsWire free?
NetNewsWire is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Reeder Classic free?
Reeder Classic costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, NetNewsWire or Reeder Classic?
NetNewsWire is rated higher. NetNewsWire averages 4.7 out of 5 from 882 ratings, while Reeder Classic averages 4.1 from 821 ratings.
Do NetNewsWire or Reeder Classic have ads?
Neither NetNewsWire nor Reeder Classic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NetNewsWire or Reeder Classic?
NetNewsWire ships an update monthly, and Reeder Classic every 3 weeks. Most recently, NetNewsWire was updated on September 23, 2026 and Reeder Classic on September 23, 2026.
Which is more popular, NetNewsWire or Reeder Classic?
NetNewsWire currently peaks at #151 in the App Store charts, and Reeder Classic at #1. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons