ProPublica vs STAT News
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ProPublica
Access in-depth investigative journalism covering critical topics like government, healthcare, and criminal justice. Enjoy a streamlined reading experience with offline support and notifications for major stories.
- Latest investigative journalism
- Reporting on government and policy
- Coverage of healthcare and criminal justice
- Environmental reporting
- Streamlined reading experience
- Offline support
- Story notifications
Read full descriptionHide full description
• Get the latest independent investigative journalism from ProPublica. • Dig deep into reporting about government and policy, health care, criminal justice, the environment and more. • Get a streamlined reading experience, with smart offline support and notifications for our biggest stories.
STAT News
Access in-depth journalism covering health, medicine, life sciences, and the business of pharmaceuticals. Explore exclusive stories, track scientific advancements, and understand industry strategies with critical analysis.
- In-depth health and medicine journalism
- Coverage of life sciences and biotech
- Analysis of pharmaceutical business
- Exclusive stories
- Save articles for later
- Follow reporters on the go
Read full descriptionHide full description
STAT delivers fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about health, medicine, life sciences and the fast-moving business of making medicines. We take you inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms. We cast a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinize corporate strategies, and chronicle roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. We examine controversies and puncture hype. Follow our reporting and reporters on the go; read exclusive stories or save them for later.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ProPublica at 75% against STAT News's 19%. ProPublica also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.7) and ads (none vs shown). STAT News's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ProPublica holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ProPublica has 105 ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of ProPublica's written reviews are positive against 19% of STAT News's.
ProPublica ships an update every 4 months, STAT News every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ProPublica | STAT News |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (105 ratings) — better | 3.7 (21 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 74.8% of reviews — better | 18.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 105 — better | 21 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #187 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | ProPublica | BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC |
Customer experience
ProPublica
STAT News
Bugs and requests
ProPublica
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes on launch
- App won't open or load content
- Stories don't appear when clicked
- MuckReads section fails to load
- Data filter dropdowns non-functional
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Articles don't fit screen (horizontal scrolling required)
- Images not resizing properly
- App freezes phone
- Device registration issues
- Content never populates
Requested features
9 requests- Dark mode for nighttime reading
- Bookmark/save articles function
- Home screen widget
- Adjustable font size
- Persistent font size settings
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- iOS 18 theme adherence
- Read-later app integration (Instapaper, Pocket)
- Improved article navigation
- Better browsing of older stories
STAT News
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ProPublica
No in-app purchases
STAT News
No in-app purchases
