Comparison

Read vs Tessera News

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

Head to head
About

Read

Features
Read full description

Read is a single, calm home for everything worth reading. Subscribe to any RSS or Atom feed. Save web articles from Safari, Mail, or any other app with one tap. Drop in a PDF. Pull a classic from the built-in Project Gutenberg library of 60,000+ free books. Read pulls them all into the same native reader view — your typography, your theme, no web clutter, no social sludge. Just the text. YOUR READER, NOT THE BROWSER'S • A real native reader, not a web view — pick from eight typefaces and set the size, line height and column width once • Four reading palettes — Paper, Sepia, Slate, Charcoal — and an optional matching app theme • Bionic Reading® mode bolds anchor letters so you scan instead of read, when you need the speed (bring your own RapidAPI key with a Bionic Reading® subscription, your text goes directly to the official Bionic Reading® API — never through our servers) • Continue Reading remembers your place down to the scroll position, on every device • Per-feed shelves that look like a magazine rack instead of a list of blue links SAVE FROM ANYWHERE, READ LATER • Safari toolbar button — one click adds the page to your Read Later queue • Safari right-click "Add to Read Later" — silent, no confirmation popup, just a save • Share-sheet target from every iOS, iPadOS and macOS app • Paste a URL from the clipboard — Read fetches and extracts the article in seconds • Saves work offline; everything stays in your library when the network drops SMART WHERE IT HELPS Optional AI analysis (bring your own API key, your data goes directly to the provider — never through our servers): • Article summaries in seconds • Political-bias detection with reasoning • Cross-reference any story against the rest of your feeds — see who covered it, who didn't, and where the framing diverges • Narrative tracking flags how a long-running story shifts week over week A LIBRARY THAT MATCHES HOW YOU ACTUALLY READ • Collections for the long-running threads you keep coming back to • Read Later queue for the stack you'll get to eventually • Favorites and Finished sections so nothing slips through • Full-text search across every article, book and clipping you've saved • Built-in web browser with reader-view detection — see a feed icon? Subscribe in one tap eBOOKS — BUILT IN Browse 60,000+ free public-domain titles from Project Gutenberg without leaving the app. Same typography and theme controls as everything else you read. From Dostoevsky to Austen, one tap to import, one tap to read. iCLOUD SYNC, PRIVATE Your library, reading progress, collections, settings and search history sync through your private iCloud — no account, no email signup, no telemetry on what you read. Read every article on your iPhone, finish it on your Mac, then mark it favorite from your iPad. It just works. TRY FREE, KEEP READING Read works for casual reading without a subscription. Unlock unlimited reading with a free trial that turns into a monthly or yearly subscription — cancel any time. AI analysis is optional and relies on your own third-party API key (OpenAI or Anthropic) — billed by those providers, not by us. No ads. Ever. No tracking of what you read. Designed and built in Switzerland. Universal binary for iPhone, iPad and Apple Silicon Mac. Bionic Reading® is a registered trademark of BRCG Casutt GmbH. Treeinspired is not the developer of Bionic Reading® and uses the Bionic Reading® API under license. All rights to Bionic Reading® remain with their respective owner.

About

Tessera News

Consolidate all your news, videos, and podcasts into a single, elegant feed. Extract full article text, set custom alerts, and enjoy offline reading. Follow any source, including blogs, YouTube, and Reddit.

Highlights
  • Full text article extraction
  • Home screen widgets
  • Customizable notifications
  • Offline reading mode
  • Support for any source (blogs, YouTube, Reddit, podcasts)
  • Integrated podcast player
  • OPML import and cross-device sync
Features
Read full description

Stop jumping between dozens of apps! Tessera is the all-in-one RSS feed reader that brings news, videos, and podcasts into one beautifully designed space. • READ FULL TEXT: Say goodbye to cut-off articles. Tessera extracts full text with images, videos, and Reddit/YouTube embeds. • WIDGETS (NEW): Bring your timeline to your home screen! Add beautiful widgets for headlines, weather, and sports. • NOTIFICATIONS (NEW): Never miss an update. Set custom alerts for your favorite feeds and breaking news. • OFFLINE MODE: Download articles with a tap and read anywhere without internet. • ADD ANY SOURCE: Follow news sites, blogs, YouTube, Reddit, and podcasts. • PODCAST PLAYER: Listen in the background while scrolling. • OPML & SYNC: Import feeds instantly. Sync progress across your iOS devices and the web. • SOCIAL: React, vote, and comment with the community. Take back control of your content. Download Tessera today!

Screenshots

Read4 screens
Tessera News4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Read at every 2 days against Tessera News's every 5 days. Tessera News's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Read sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Tessera News sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Read ships an update every 2 days, Tessera News every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Read versus Tessera News: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadTessera News
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS26.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB13 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developertreeinspired GmbHThe Moonshot Lab

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Read

Subscriptions2
  • Read Pro monthly3 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Read Pro yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
4 purchases

Tessera News

One-time4
  • Tessera Silver$3.00
  • Tessera Gold$9.00
  • Tessera Black$17.00
Show 1 more
  • Tessera Black$24.90

Questions

Is Read free?
Read is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tessera News free?
Tessera News is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Read or Tessera News have ads?
Neither Read nor Tessera News shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Read or Tessera News?
Read ships an update every 2 days, and Tessera News every 5 days. Most recently, Read was updated on October 30, 2026 and Tessera News on October 31, 2026.

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