POLITICO vs NextDraft
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
POLITICO
Get real-time political news and analysis delivered directly to your phone. This app offers a streamlined way to access breaking news and in-depth stories from a leading political news source.
- Up-to-the-minute insight
- Political news analysis
- Breaking news alerts
- Sleek and navigable design
- Dynamic stories
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Stay up to speed on the political news driving the day with the POLITICO iPhone app, featuring up-to-the-minute insight and analysis delivered straight to your phone. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's dynamic stories and breaking news alerts.
NextDraft
Get a curated summary of the day's ten most fascinating news stories, handpicked by an expert news addict. This app cuts through online clutter to deliver essential, entertaining, and often surprising content in an easy-to-read format.
- Daily summary of top 10 news stories
- Expertly curated content
- Easy-to-read format
- Save articles to read later
- Includes viral videos and photos
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Real News Daily. Dave Pell, Internet wit and news addict, provides a smart summary of the day's ten most fascinating news stories. "Dave finds stuff I didn't see but should have. Add that to his drop-dead sexiness and you've got yourself an indispensable newsletter." - Steve Bodow, Executive Producer, The Daily Show "You will feel smarter and happier after you download it." - TechCrunch "The NextDraft newsletter is indispensable. Dave Pell cuts through the clutter with urgency, humor and smarts. I never miss it." - Don Van Natta Jr., ESPN "On any given day, Dave turns up the top 10 stories that are important, moving, hilarious, and just weird. Next Draft finds the signal in all the noise that's out there." - Bob Cohn, President, Atlantic Media The News Trusted By Those Who Write the News: "A consistently informative and entertaining guide to some of the best stories on the web, with a healthy mix of news you should know, want to know, and prefer to pretend you didn't read." - Maria Konnikova, New Yorker "Think of Dave Pell as the Internet’s managing editor. The NYT meets SNL. Smart, funny, essential." - Phil Bronstein, Executive Chair, Center for Investigative Reporting "NextDraft is a must-read." - Ram Ramgopal, CNN Executive Editor "Like all great curators, Pell continually provides answers to questions you weren’t even aware you were asking; even as he feeds your mind, he cultivates and expands your curiosity. I read NextDraft the way I breathe, and for the same reason." - Andrew Corsello, GQ "There are days - hell, weeks - where I would be completely lost without the Internet concierge that is NextDraft." - Hilary Sargent, Boston Globe "It is about time the Internet had a managing editor, and Dave Pell turns out to be the perfect choice for he job. NextDraft is always nourishing, often surprising and quite witty (especially given that he is an American). An essential tea time read." - Matthew Bishop, The Economist "Dave is an expert at picking through the deluge and serving up the day's best stories from a huge variety of websites." - Sapna Maheshwari, Buzzfeed Highlights: You need an algorithm to help cut to through the Internet's clutter. News junkie Dave Pell is that algorithm. He combs dozens of sites, finds the most fascinating news stores, and then provides a fast, pithy summary that will make your iPhone vibrate with awesomeness. - Get a quick overview of what matters today. - View the news in a simple, easy to read format. - Save articles to your favorite read later tool with one click (Readability, Instapaper, Pocket, etc). - Don't miss the day's best viral videos and photos. - Be the star of any dinner party.
Screenshots
Verdict
POLITICO and NextDraft both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 87% of NextDraft's written reviews are positive against 29% of POLITICO's. NextDraft also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). POLITICO's advantage is ratings volume (49K vs 86) and update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for POLITICO against 4.6 for NextDraft. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: POLITICO has 49K ratings behind it against 86, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 29% of POLITICO's written reviews are positive against 87% of NextDraft's.
POLITICO ships an update monthly, NextDraft every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | POLITICO | NextDraft |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (49K ratings) — better | 4.6 (86 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 29.4% of reviews | 86.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 49K — better | 86 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #56 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 129 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | POLITICO, LLC | NextDraft |
Customer experience
POLITICO
NextDraft
User reviews
POLITICO
From 49K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent news coverage
- 🔍 Thorough and insightful analysis
- 🗞️ Reliable and trustworthy journalism
- 📊 Valuable data and metrics
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔄 Difficulty refreshing content
- 📱 Poor app performance and navigation
- 🔍 Biased or partisan reporting
- 🔍 Lack of objectivity
NextDraft
From 86 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Efficient news curation
- 👍 Entertaining and insightful commentary
- 🔍 Comprehensive coverage of important news
- 📚 Diverse range of interesting articles
- 💻 Clean and intuitive app design
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or stability issues
- 🔆 Lack of dark mode option
- 🔗 Difficulty tracking read/unread content
Bugs and requests
POLITICO
Reported bugs
4 issues- App freezes and crashes
- Inability to refresh content
- Notifications not working properly
- Compatibility issues with newer devices
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to adjust font size
- Offline reading mode
- Improved article organization and search
- More balanced political coverage
NextDraft
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on launch with older iOS versions
- Scrolling issues on some devices
Requested features
3 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to mark articles as read/unread
- More font size options
In-app purchases
POLITICO
No in-app purchases
NextDraft
No in-app purchases









