# Instapaper vs Feather

The clearest difference is rating: Instapaper at 4.6 against Feather's 3.0. Instapaper also leads on ratings volume (3.5K vs 6) and chart position (#139 vs unranked). Feather's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Instapaper sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Feather sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Instapaper holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Instapaper has 3.5K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Instapaper ships an update every 2 weeks, Feather daily. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Instapaper | Feather |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (3.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/instapaper/id288545208/reviews)** | [3.0 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/feather-save-articles/id1492727805/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **3.5K** | 6 |
| Positive reviews | 64.2% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | **Daily** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#139** | — |
| Size | 49 MB | 2 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **18.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Instant Paper, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/284942716) | [Don Bytyqi](https://appshunter.io/developer/1195554909) |

## What reviewers say

### Instapaper

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/instapaper/id288545208)

**Currently charting:** #139 Top Grossing · News, #177 Top Free · News (US App Store)

Save articles from the web for later reading, with a clean, clutter-free experience. Access your saved content offline, anywhere, anytime. Features include text-to-speech narration and customizable reading options.

**Highlights:** Save web articles for offline reading, Clutter-free reading experience, Text-to-speech narration, Customizable fonts and themes, Highlighting and note-taking, Article organization with folders

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Instapaper Premium | $5.99 | per month |
| Instapaper Premium | $59.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Efficient reading experience
- 👍 Clean, minimalist design
- 💡 Useful features like highlighting and notes
- 🚀 Seamless integration with various platforms
- 👍 Reliable and stable app

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Bugs and crashes
- 🔒 Concerns about data privacy and GDPR compliance
- 💰 Subscription price increase
- 🔍 Unreliable search functionality
- 🚫 Inability to delete account

**Reported bugs**

- Speak feature freezes on most articles
- Pagination issues causing text to be cut off
- Folders and archives disappearing
- Inability to save articles from certain websites
- Subscription not unlocking premium features

**Requested features**

- Add support for tables and charts
- Improve text-to-speech quality
- Implement a 'go back to beginning of article' feature
- Add support for EPUB files
- Introduce a 'random article' feature


### Feather

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/feather-save-articles/id1492727805)

Save articles from any source for offline reading in a clean, formatted experience. Enjoy text-to-speech narration, customizable fonts, and iCloud sync across your devices. Organize and share your saved content with ease.

**Highlights:** Offline reading, Clean reading experience, Text-to-speech narration, Customizable font editor, iCloud Sync, Quick save option

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Feather Pro Monthly | $1.99 | per month |
| Feather Lifetime Pro | $18.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Instapaper free?

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

### Is Feather free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Instapaper or Feather?

Instapaper is rated higher. Instapaper averages 4.6 out of 5 from 3.5K ratings, while Feather averages 3.0 from 6 ratings.

### Do Instapaper or Feather have ads?

Neither Instapaper nor Feather shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Instapaper or Feather?

Instapaper ships an update every 2 weeks, and Feather daily. Most recently, Instapaper was updated on October 15, 2026 and Feather on October 14, 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.*