QCTimes vs Pantagraph
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
QCTimes
Access local news, sports, and in-depth stories from the Illinois Quad-Cities region. Enjoy exclusive commentary, photography, video, and podcasts. Personalize your news feed and receive breaking alerts.
- Personalized local news topics
- Breaking news and custom alerts
- Exclusive commentary and podcasts
- Photo and video updates
- Article listening option
- Customizable text size
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Your story lives in the Illinois Quad-Cities. From reporting on all of your favorite teams to the news that matters most, we cover it all. Get in-depth stories from the region and beyond – including news, sports, opinion, obituaries, entertainment, and politics. Easily access the very latest news in an app built for you. Read, see, and hear exclusive commentary, stunning photography, video updates, and binge-worthy podcasts. Plus, subscribers have the ability to upgrade to News+, our premium ad-free experience! That means faster-loading pages and an uninterrupted reading experience. Our app features: * Your Stories – personalize your experience by selecting the local news topics that matter most to you * Get notified – stay in the loop by selecting alerts for news, sports, weather, and more * Easy navigation – see all the latest local stories by simply swiping up/down, and left/right. * Read stories your way – either in the News Feed or via the E-edition * Breaking news updates – top banners let you know what’s happening right now * Follow author – get notifications whenever your favorite writers post a story * Bookmark for later – save stories to enjoy at your leisure * Listen to articles – press the play button to listen instead * Customize your text size – make the content bigger or smaller in your profile settings * Weather where you are – hourly, 10-day forecasts, and frequent video updates Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. https://qctimes.com/terms
Pantagraph
Access local news, sports, and community stories from the Bloomington-Normal area. Features exclusive commentary, photography, video, and podcasts. Subscribers can upgrade to an ad-free premium experience.
- Personalized news topics
- Breaking news alerts
- Exclusive multimedia content
- Ad-free premium option
- Listen to articles
- Customizable text size
- Hourly and 10-day weather forecasts
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Your story lives in The Pantagraph. From reporting on all of your favorite teams to the news that matters most in your community, we cover it all. Get in-depth stories from the Bloomington-Normal area and beyond – including news, sports, opinion, obituaries, entertainment, and politics. Easily access the very latest news in an app built for you. Read, see, and hear exclusive commentary, stunning photography, video updates, and binge-worthy podcasts. Plus, subscribers have the ability to upgrade to News+, our premium ad-free experience! That means faster-loading pages and an uninterrupted reading experience. Our app features: * Your Stories – personalize your experience by selecting the local news topics that matter most to you * Get notified – stay in the loop by selecting alerts for news, sports, weather, and more * Easy navigation – see all the latest local stories by simply swiping up/down, and left/right. * Read stories your way – either in the News Feed or via the E-edition * Breaking news updates – top banners let you know what’s happening right now * Follow author – get notifications whenever your favorite writers post a story * Bookmark for later – save stories to enjoy at your leisure * Listen to articles – press the play button to listen instead * Customize your text size – make the content bigger or smaller in your profile settings * Weather where you are – hourly, 10-day forecasts, and frequent video updates Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. https://pantagraph.com/terms/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is chart position: Pantagraph at #147 against QCTimes's unranked. QCTimes's advantage is review sentiment (28% vs 19%). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. QCTimes sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $27.99 per month and Pantagraph sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $27.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.5 for QCTimes against 3.4 for Pantagraph. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 213 and 402 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 28% of QCTimes's written reviews are positive against 19% of Pantagraph's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | QCTimes | Pantagraph |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (213 ratings) — better | 3.4 (402 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 27.6% of reviews — better | 19.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 213 | 402 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #147 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 101 MB | 101 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Madison Newspapers Incorporated | Lee Enterprises |
Customer experience
QCTimes
Pantagraph
User reviews
QCTimes
From 213 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great local news source
- 📱 Easy to use on mobile
- 📰 Good newspaper content
- 🚀 Fast updates (historically)
- 💬 Ability to comment on stories
Room to improve
- 😩 Invasive and unclosable ads
- 🐌 Slow response times
- 🗞️ Outdated news content
- 👎 Poor app performance
- 🗑️ Difficult navigation
Pantagraph
From 402 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Good local news
- 🚀 Always on time
- 👍 Convenient for on the go
- 🚀 Fast news delivery
- 👍 Easy to navigate
Room to improve
- 🐛 Repetitive articles
- 🐛 Update issues
- 🐛 Misleading update messages
- 🐛 Sparse local university coverage
- 🐛 Expensive subscription
Bugs and requests
QCTimes
Reported bugs
14 issues- App crashes frequently
- Stories fail to open
- App tells users they need to subscribe when they already do
- Blank screen on app open
- Page not available for download messages
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Ads that cannot be clicked out of
- Update pop-ups that prevent updates
- App redirects to other apps/ads
- Freezes and pop-ups
- PDF version not opening
- Inconsistent performance
- Obituaries not updated
- Sports section issues
- Old app worked better
Requested features
10 requests- Bring back obituaries
- Add pull to refresh
- Include gas prices
- More pictures with articles
- Dedicated weather page
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Improve subscription access
- Fix ad pop-ups
- Make news current
- Restore old app features
- Improve navigation
Pantagraph
Reported bugs
25 issues- Update message misleading
- App unusable after update
- Paywall appears and won't allow viewing
- Saved articles gone after update
- App blacks out
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- Article reloads when scrolling
- Popups look like malware
- Request cannot be processed, no content available
- Pictures can no longer be enlarged
- App randomly blacks out
- App no longer works, loads blackout video
- Twitchy scrolling, article reloads
- Ads hijack you
- Redirected to advertiser's site
- App redirects to game in App Store
- App crashes every time after software update
- New version does not open
- Annoying adverts take you to safari
- Ads redirect to website, cannot return to news
- App redirects to their website
- Pop-up video ads before viewing article
- Notifications never worked
- App keeps crashing
- Cannot see comments
- App does not seem to work as well
Requested features
15 requests- Stop repeating things
- Fix update message to go to update page
- More local articles
- More local news coverage
- Improve coverage of local small university
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Offer subscription without advertising
- Allow viewing of E-edition
- Improve categorization and organization
- Allow print size adjustment
- Fix comment section accessibility
- Disable comments section
- More local news or all local news
- Option to view paper as E-edition
- Fix notification system
- Allow viewing of comments
In-app purchases
QCTimes
- Subscriptions$27.991 Month
- Subscriptions$40.991 Month
- Subscriptions$44.991 Month
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Subscriptions$50.001 Year
- Subscriptions$269.991 Year
- Subscriptions$329.991 Year
- Subscriptions$364.991 Year
Pantagraph
- Subscriptions$27.991 Month
- Subscriptions$40.991 Month
- Subscriptions$44.991 Month
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Subscriptions$50.001 Year
- Subscriptions$269.991 Year
- Subscriptions$329.991 Year
- Subscriptions$364.991 Year
Questions
Is QCTimes free?
Is Pantagraph free?
Which has better reviews, QCTimes or Pantagraph?
Do QCTimes or Pantagraph have ads?
Which is updated more often, QCTimes or Pantagraph?
Other comparisons
