Comparison

Boston.com vs Boston Herald

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

Head to head
About

Boston.com

Access curated news alerts, weather updates, and sports scores. Stay informed about local and national news, lifestyle, and entertainment from a team of journalists.

Highlights
  • Curated news alerts
  • Weather updates
  • Sports scores
  • Local and national news
  • Lifestyle and entertainment coverage
Features
Read full description

Boston.com is the essential digital destination for quick, award-winning local coverage across news, sports, weather, lifestyle, and community. No one knows Boston like we do, and no one delivers what the city cares about right now in a format this fast. Stay up to date on what’s happening in Boston and beyond when you download the app today. And make sure to turn on push notifications so you're always first to know what the city's talking about.

About

Boston Herald

Access personalized news recommendations and save articles for later. Customize notifications and enjoy offline reading. Browse the digital replica of the daily newspaper directly within the app.

Highlights
  • Personalized news recommendations
  • Save articles for later
  • Customizable push notifications
  • Digital newspaper replica (E-News)
  • Offline reading
  • Follow/Unfollow topics
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Welcome to a new app experience, we have optimized our app and giving it a facelift! This faster iOS native app now has the following new features: Your News: Provide personalized recommendations for content based on user preferences. Users will be allowed to customize the content they want to engage with by selecting the topics they are truly interested in. By going to the “Your News” tab the user can bypass the noise of all that is published and home in on the content they want Saved Articles: Save feature that allows users to save articles or other content they are interested in for later reading or reference.Push notifications will remind users to read their saved articles or suggest related content Custom Push Notifications: The user can select what topics they want to be notified about which makes for a much less intrusive experience. Top Navigation Bar: A top navigation bar lets the user switch between sections by swiping or tapping. Enews in-app: Desire the newspaper experience? No need to open a separate app! By simply going to Settings and selecting E-News the user can browse the Digital Replica of the day’s paper. Offline Reading: This feature allows users to enable offline reading from Settings. Offline “Reading Preferences” can also be customized for Settings. Swipe Left: Instead of going back to the main section to find more articles, users have the option to simply swipe, immediately opening other articles in the Section. Follow Topics: A user will be shown articles on topics they are following. To follow select “follow” at the article level and related articles will gain relevancy and be shown more frequently. Just as easily “Unfollow” Terms of Use: https://www.medianewsgroup.com/terms-of-use/ https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Boston.com4 screens
Boston Herald4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Boston.com at none against Boston Herald's 2. Boston.com also leads on review sentiment (34% vs 13%) and ratings volume (7.5K vs 970). Boston Herald's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and chart position (#186 vs unranked). On price, rating, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Boston Herald sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Boston.com asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Boston.com against 4.6 for Boston Herald. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Boston.com has 7.5K ratings behind it against 970, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 34% of Boston.com's written reviews are positive against 13% of Boston Herald's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Boston.com ships an update every 3 months, Boston Herald monthly. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Boston.com versus Boston Herald: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBoston.comBoston Herald
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (7.5K ratings)4.6 (970 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.8% of reviews — better13.2% of reviews
Number of ratings7.5K — better970
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#186 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB188 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperBOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLCMediaNews Group

Customer experience

Boston.com

All ratings7,453 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews71 reviews
Positive33.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative60.6%

Boston Herald

All ratings962 ratings
Positive91.5%
Neutral3.5%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive13.2%
Neutral3.9%
Negative82.9%

User reviews

Boston.com

From 7.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐️ Great news and sports coverage
  • ⭐️ Wonderful app
  • ⭐️ Best progressive newspaper
  • ⭐️ Best sports section in Boston
  • ⭐️ Favorite news source

Room to improve

  • 💰 Hiding behind a paywall
  • 🚫 No images
  • 🕰️ Doesn't update enough
  • 🕰️ Zero updates
  • 🚫 Recycling of old stories

Boston Herald

From 970 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Decent site
  • 👍 Great sports coverage
  • 👍 Informative and balanced news

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and frustrating app
  • 🔍 Poor navigation and user experience
  • 💰 Paywall for content
  • 🔍 Outdated and cluttered layout
  • 🔍 Small font size

Bugs and requests

Boston.com

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

2 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

Boston Herald

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login issues
  • Frequent crashes and freezes
  • Compatibility problems with older devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Improved navigation and organization
  • Ability to customize font size

In-app purchases

None

Boston.com

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Boston Herald

Subscriptions2
  • Boston Herald Monthly Sub1 Month trial$11.991 Month
  • Boston Herald Annual Sub1 Year trial$139.991 Year

Questions

Is Boston.com free?
Boston.com is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Boston Herald free?
Boston Herald is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Boston.com or Boston Herald?
Boston Herald is rated higher. Boston.com averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7.5K ratings, while Boston Herald averages 4.6 from 970 ratings.
Do Boston.com or Boston Herald have ads?
Both Boston.com and Boston Herald show ads.
Which is updated more often, Boston.com or Boston Herald?
Boston.com ships an update every 3 months, and Boston Herald monthly. Most recently, Boston.com was updated on October 29, 2026 and Boston Herald on October 29, 2026.

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