# cleveland.com vs THE BLADE

The clearest difference is rating: cleveland.com at 4.5 against THE BLADE's 4.0. cleveland.com also leads on chart position (#84 vs unranked) and ratings volume (11K vs 2.1K). THE BLADE's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 16) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. cleveland.com sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. THE BLADE asks for nothing beyond the download.

cleveland.com holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: cleveland.com has 11K ratings behind it against 2.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 29% of cleveland.com's written reviews are positive against 23% of THE BLADE's.

cleveland.com ships an update every 3 weeks, THE BLADE every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | cleveland.com | THE BLADE |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (11K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clevelandcom/id394810586/reviews)** | [4.0 (2.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-blade/id1290364358/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **11K** | 2.1K |
| Positive reviews | **28.9% of reviews** | 22.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Every 5 weeks |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#84** | — |
| Size | 32 MB | 73 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [cleveland.com](https://appshunter.io/developer/443416244) | [Toledo Blade](https://appshunter.io/developer/1190372458) |

## What reviewers say

### cleveland.com

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clevelandcom/id394810586)

**Currently charting:** #84 Top Grossing · News (US App Store)

Stay informed with local news, sports, and weather updates impacting your community. Get timely and reliable reporting from trusted local journalists covering news, politics, business, and culture.

**Highlights:** Local news reporting, Sports coverage, Weather updates, Politics and business news, Cultural event coverage, Premium content access

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (14)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| cleveland.com Football Insider | $7.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $9.99 | per month |
| All Access to cleveland.com | $10.00 | per month |
| All Access to cleveland.com | $11.99 | per month |
| All Access to Cleveland | $15.00 | per month |
| All access to cleveland.com | $75.00 | per year |
| Insider Digital | $79.99 | per year |
| All access to cleveland.com | $99.99 | per year |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $99.99 | per year |
| All Access to cleveland.com | $100.00 | per year |
| All access to cleveland.com | $119.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- ⭐ Informative local news and sports coverage
- 🌐 Convenient way to stay connected to Cleveland from afar

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐌 Slow app performance and frequent crashes
- 🔒 Inconsistent access to subscriber-only content
- 📰 Biased or low-quality journalism
- 💰 Excessive paywalling of content

**Reported bugs**

- Saved articles frequently deleted
- Inability to access specific sports sections

**Requested features**

- Improved search and navigation
- Restore high school sports coverage
- Bring back user comments and community features


### THE BLADE

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-blade/id1290364358)

Access trusted, timely, and comprehensive news coverage from the Toledo area's leading source. Stay informed about local news, politics, sports, and entertainment with engaging content from award-winning journalists. Connect with your community through impactful stories and insightful commentary.

**Highlights:** Trusted local news source, Award-winning journalism, Local news and politics, Sports and entertainment coverage, Community connection stories, Future-forward news experience

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Convenient news source
- 👍 Easy to consume news format
- 🚀 Timely news delivery
- 🚀 Useful for local news

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Unreliable article loading
- 🐛 Slow performance
- 🐛 Buggy navigation
- 🐛 Incomplete content

**Reported bugs**

- Sections fail to load
- App freezes and crashes
- Inconsistent performance
- Forced updates with no delay option

**Requested features**

- Ability to adjust text size
- Vertical display option
- Search functionality
- Archiving of past editions
- Improved photo viewing experience


## Frequently asked questions

### Is cleveland.com free?

cleveland.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is THE BLADE free?

THE BLADE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, cleveland.com or THE BLADE?

cleveland.com is rated higher. cleveland.com averages 4.5 out of 5 from 11K ratings, while THE BLADE averages 4.0 from 2.1K ratings.

### Do cleveland.com or THE BLADE have ads?

cleveland.com shows ads; THE BLADE does not.

### Which is updated more often, cleveland.com or THE BLADE?

cleveland.com ships an update every 3 weeks, and THE BLADE every 5 weeks. Most recently, cleveland.com was updated on October 17, 2026 and THE BLADE on October 16, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*