# NJ.com vs Daily Beast

The clearest difference is monetization model: Daily Beast at free with in-app purchases against NJ.com's subscription. Daily Beast also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (33% vs 19%). NJ.com's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (25K vs 7.7K). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and chart position there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. NJ.com sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Daily Beast sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Daily Beast holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25K and 7.7K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of NJ.com's written reviews are positive against 33% of Daily Beast's.

NJ.com ships an update every 3 weeks, Daily Beast fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | NJ.com | Daily Beast |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.5 (25K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/njcom/id419202474/reviews) | **[4.8 (7.7K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/daily-beast/id898117224/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **25K** | 7.7K |
| Positive reviews | 18.7% of reviews | **32.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Best chart rank | **#54** | #75 |
| Size | 32 MB | 92 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **16.4** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [NJ.com](https://appshunter.io/developer/419202477) | [The Daily Beast Company LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/359917657) |

## What reviewers say

### NJ.com

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/njcom/id419202474)

**Currently charting:** #54 Top Grossing · News (US App Store)

Stay informed with local news, sports, and weather impacting your community. Access timely and reliable reporting from journalists who live and work in your area. Covers a wide range of topics including news, politics, business, and culture.

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

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

**In-app purchases (16)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Rutgers Sports Insider | $5.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Digital Access | $9.99 | per month |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $9.99 | per month |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $9.99 | per month |
| Monthly Access | $10.00 | per month |
| All Access to NJ.com | $10.00 | per month |
| All Access to NJ.com | $11.99 | per month |
| All Access to New Jersey | $15.00 | per month |
| Full Access to NJ.com | $15.00 | per month |
| Rutgers Sports Insider | $59.99 | per year |
| All Access to NJ.com | $75.00 | per year |
| All Access to NJ.com | $99.99 | per year |
| Subscriber Exclusive Content | $99.99 | per year |
| Annual Access | $100.00 | per year |
| All Access to NJ.com | $119.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🗞️ Informative local news coverage
- 📰 Reliable source for NJ news
- 🔍 Helpful search functionality

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Excessive paywall restrictions
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
- 💤 Slow loading times and performance issues
- 📢 Overwhelming ads and notifications
- 🗣️ Lack of user commenting features

**Reported bugs**

- Login issues and inability to access subscriber content
- Frequent app crashes and freezes
- Navigation and search functionality problems
- Incompatibility with certain devices and OS versions

**Requested features**

- Bring back ability to save articles
- Improve app stability and performance
- Offer more free content access
- Restore team-specific sports browsing
- Add user commenting functionality


### Daily Beast

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/daily-beast/id898117224)

**Currently charting:** #75 Top Grossing · News (US App Store)

Access award-winning original reporting and sharp opinion on politics, pop-culture, and world news. Enjoy top stories updated on demand and available for offline reading, plus a smart news summary.

**Highlights:** Award-winning original reporting, Sharp opinion pieces, Politics and pop-culture coverage, World news updates, Offline reading, The Cheat Sheet™ news summary

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

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| MONTHLY | $4.99 | per month |
| Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| MONTHLY | $5.99 | per month |
| The Daily Beast | $5.99 | per month |
| Annual | $34.99 | per year |
| ANNUAL | $49.99 | per year |
| Annual | $49.99 | per year |
| The Daily Beast | $59.99 | per year |
| The Daily Beast | $119.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and up-to-date reporting
- 👍 Concise and easy-to-understand articles
- 💡 Unique and insightful perspectives
- 🚀 Convenient and accessible app
- 👍 Informative and entertaining content

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and glitches
- 💰 Excessive ads even for paid subscribers
- 🔒 Difficult login and account management
- 🔍 Lack of search functionality
- 📚 Fewer articles than the website version

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes on launch or during use
- Frequent log-out issues for subscribers
- Inability to refresh content or load new articles
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
- Inconsistent performance across different devices

**Requested features**

- Add a search feature to find articles easily
- Improve login and account management experience
- Introduce a dark mode option for better readability
- Provide more customization options for users
- Sync content between app and website seamlessly


## Frequently asked questions

### Is NJ.com free?

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

### Is Daily Beast free?

Daily Beast is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, NJ.com or Daily Beast?

Daily Beast is rated higher. NJ.com averages 4.5 out of 5 from 25K ratings, while Daily Beast averages 4.8 from 7.7K ratings.

### Do NJ.com or Daily Beast have ads?

Daily Beast shows ads; NJ.com does not.

### Which is updated more often, NJ.com or Daily Beast?

NJ.com ships an update every 3 weeks, and Daily Beast fortnightly. Most recently, NJ.com was updated on September 25, 2026 and Daily Beast on September 24, 2026.

### Which is more popular, NJ.com or Daily Beast?

NJ.com currently peaks at #54 in the App Store charts, and Daily Beast at #75. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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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.*