Comparison

NetNewsWire vs Reeder.

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.

Consolidate your reading, watching, and listening into a single, unified timeline. Sync your progress across devices and share curated content with others. Organize saved links and create custom views with powerful filters.

Highlights
  • Unified timeline for all content
  • Cross-device syncing via iCloud
  • Shareable feeds from tags
  • Customizable filters for timelines
  • Save and organize links
  • Integrates videos, podcasts, and social media
Features
Read full description

Reeder is your all-in-one inbox for reading, watching and listening to content from various sources. From Unread Counts to Timeline Syncing Say goodbye to unread counts! With Reeder, your timeline position is synced across all your devices, letting you pick up right where you left off. Shared Feeds Turn any tag into a public, auto-updating feed that can be viewed in any browser or added to any RSS reader that supports JSON feeds, making it simple to share your curated content. Unified Timeline Reeder supports more than just RSS feeds. It integrates videos, podcasts and social media posts into a single, streamlined view. While it’s not meant to replace full-featured clients, Reeder offers a centralized way to keep track of everything you follow, with the option to open content in other apps (if supported) when you want to dive deeper. Filters Create custom timelines with filters based on keywords, media types or feed types. Save and Organize Links Easily save links from Safari or any other app to Reeder using its share extension, keeping everything organized and easy to find. iCloud Sync Reeder only syncs what’s important — your subscriptions, timeline position and tagged items (including Links, Favorites, Bookmarks and Later) — across all your devices using iCloud, making syncing faster and more efficient, with changes pushed to your other devices within seconds. Content is fetched directly from the sources, ensuring you always have the latest updates. Terms of Use: https://reeder.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://reeder.app/privacy

Screenshots

NetNewsWire4 screens
Reeder.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NetNewsWire at none against Reeder.'s 2. NetNewsWire also leads on review sentiment (85% vs 53%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.3). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Reeder. sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.00 per month. NetNewsWire asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

NetNewsWire holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 882 and 863 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of NetNewsWire's written reviews are positive against 53% of Reeder.'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NetNewsWire ships an update monthly, Reeder. every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
NetNewsWire versus Reeder.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNetNewsWireReeder.
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (882 ratings) — better4.3 (863 ratings)
Positive reviews84.7% of reviews — better53.3% of reviews
Number of ratings882 — better863
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#145 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB29 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.

All ratings863 ratings
Positive80.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative14.8%
Written reviews705 reviews
Positive53.3%
Neutral15.6%
Negative31.1%

Bugs and requests

NetNewsWire

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Reeder.

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Feeds failing to import or sync correctly
  • Inconsistent timeline ordering and display
  • Podcast and video playback issues
  • Crashes and stability problems

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add read/unread status indicators
  • Improve feed organization with folders
  • Provide more customization options for layout and typography
  • Integrate with third-party RSS services
  • Introduce keyboard shortcuts for common actions
Show 1 more
  • Add option to hide read/viewed content

In-app purchases

None

NetNewsWire

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Reeder.

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$1.001 Month
  • Yearly$10.001 Year

Questions

Is NetNewsWire free?
NetNewsWire is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Reeder. free?
Reeder. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NetNewsWire or Reeder.?
NetNewsWire is rated higher. NetNewsWire averages 4.7 out of 5 from 882 ratings, while Reeder. averages 4.3 from 863 ratings.
Do NetNewsWire or Reeder. have ads?
Neither NetNewsWire nor Reeder. shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NetNewsWire or Reeder.?
NetNewsWire ships an update monthly, and Reeder. every 3 weeks. Most recently, NetNewsWire was updated on September 23, 2026 and Reeder. on September 24, 2026.

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