Comparison

Instapaper vs NewsPal

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

Head to head
About

Instapaper

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
Read full description

Instapaper is the simplest way to save and store articles for reading: offline, on-the-go, anytime, anywhere, perfectly formatted. Instapaper for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch provides a mobile-optimized text view that makes reading Internet content a clean and uncluttered experience. Instapaper also enhances the standard reading experience with features like text-to-speech. Instapaper has been inducted into the iPhone and iPad Hall of Fame, received Macworld Editor's Choice Award, and has also been featured in publications including Wired, TIME, Daring Fireball, and The Verge, among others. Core Features: - Strip away all clutter and save the content of web pages into iOS-optimized formatting. - Read anywhere! No internet, no problem: access your articles on airplanes, subways, elevators, or Wi-Fi-only devices away from Internet connections. - Save to Instapaper from other iOS applications with one tap. Additional Features: - Control every aspect of your reading experience with a variety of font, color themes, and spacing options. - Find that great quote you want to remember and share? Instapaper makes it easy to highlight and add notes to text in any article. - Have your Instapaper articles narrated to you with text-to-speech. Just turn up the volume on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and relax! - Sort your list of articles by popularity, date, and article length. - Folders for easy organization. Instapaper also offers an optional Instapaper Premium subscription for $5.99/month or $59.99/year. With Instapaper Premium you receive: - Full-text search for articles in your account - Unlimited highlights and notes. - Text-to-speech Playlist to seamlessly listen to multiple articles. - Unlimited use of the speed reading feature to help you get through articles up to 3x faster. On sign up for Instapaper Premium, payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your App Store account settings after purchase. Terms of service: https://www.instapaper.com/terms Privacy policy: https://www.instapaper.com/privacy

About

NewsPal

Save your favorite websites to read later without an internet connection. Automatically download fresh content while you sleep, with AI-powered updates. Enjoy an ad-free experience and keep your data private.

Highlights
  • Offline website reading
  • Scheduled content downloads
  • AI-powered auto-updates
  • Ad and tracker removal
  • Privacy-focused, no login required
  • Expandable download limits via subscription
Features
Read full description

THE PLACE FOR UNINTERRUPTIBLE READING EXPERIENCE. Are you sick and tired of being forced to play games when you're stuck on the subway? So were we, so we built NewsPal - an app which saves your favorite websites and let you read them later, without any Internet connection. NewsPal downloads every single layer of a website, allowing you to navigate and access your content from anywhere, even in your underground bunker. SET IT AND FORGET IT! NewsPal provides the ability to set download schedulers. This means that you can set NewsPal to automatically grab the latest version of your favorite websites while you sleep and every day you have a fresh copy ready to go for the morning commute. We use an AI-powered autoupdate feature, which will learn your usage pattern, and will adjust your content refresh time respectively. NO ADS, YOUR DATA IS YOURS! Enjoy Ad-Free reading - NewsPal automatically attempts to remove the advertisements and trackers of any website it downloads. You do not need to login to NewsPal: we do not collect your personal information, preferences and interests, and will never sell your data. NEWSPAL PREMIUM You can buy a NewsPal Premium subscription to expand beyond the free-tier 200 MB download limit. NewsPal Premium subscription price starts at $0.99 USD/month or $7.99 USD/year. Prices are in US dollars, may vary in countries other than the US and are subject to change without notice. If you choose to purchase NewsPal Premium, payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you purchases a subscription. Privacy policy: https://www.forestudio.ca/newspal/policy.html Terms & Conditions: https://www.forestudio.ca/newspal/terms.html

Screenshots

Instapaper4 screens
NewsPal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Instapaper at 4.6 against NewsPal's 4.0. Instapaper also leads on ratings volume (3.5K vs 24) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). NewsPal's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 64%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Instapaper sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and NewsPal sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Instapaper holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Instapaper has 3.5K ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 64% of Instapaper's written reviews are positive against 75% of NewsPal's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Instapaper ships an update every 2 weeks, NewsPal every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Instapaper versus NewsPal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInstapaperNewsPal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (3.5K ratings) — better4.0 (24 ratings)
Positive reviews64.1% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.5K — better24
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#130 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInstant Paper, Inc.FORE STUDIO LTD.

Customer experience

Instapaper

All ratings3,548 ratings
Positive89.8%
Neutral3.4%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews1,369 reviews
Positive64.1%
Neutral9.1%
Negative26.7%

NewsPal

All ratings24 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral4.2%
Negative20.8%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%

Bugs and requests

Instapaper

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • 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

5 requests
  • 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

NewsPal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Instapaper

Subscriptions2
  • Instapaper Premium$5.991 Month
  • Instapaper Premium$59.991 Year
6 purchases

NewsPal

Subscriptions6
  • Bronze - Up to 500 MB$0.991 Month
  • Gold - Up To 2 GB$1.991 Month
  • Platinum - Up to 10 GB$3.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Bronze - Up to 500 MB$7.991 Year
  • Gold - Up to 2 GB$15.991 Year
  • Platinum - Up to 10 GB$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Instapaper free?
Instapaper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NewsPal free?
NewsPal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Instapaper or NewsPal?
Instapaper is rated higher. Instapaper averages 4.6 out of 5 from 3.5K ratings, while NewsPal averages 4.0 from 24 ratings.
Do Instapaper or NewsPal have ads?
Neither Instapaper nor NewsPal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Instapaper or NewsPal?
Instapaper ships an update every 2 weeks, and NewsPal every 2 months. Most recently, Instapaper was updated on October 22, 2026 and NewsPal on October 15, 2026.

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