AL.com vs The Anniston Star
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AL.com
Get timely and reliable local news, sports, and weather updates directly impacting your community. Stay informed about unfolding events in your backyard, from politics and business to culture and more. Access essential information from a trusted source, anytime and anywhere.
- Local news reporting
- Sports updates
- Weather forecasts
- Community-focused content
- Timely and reliable information
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Get trusted local news across Alabama. Breaking news, in-depth reporting, and all the stories people are talking about. Stay connected to what's happening around you with timely coverage of news, weather, sports, and more, optimized for your phone. Free to download. Get breaking news, alerts, and top stories. Subscribers receive unlimited access to in-depth reporting, exclusive content, and additional features. Subscriptions are available in-app. Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://www.advance.net/advancedigitalUserAgreementPP/
The Anniston Star
Access local news, sports, opinion, and community features for East Alabama. Your login provides full access to unmatched news coverage in Calhoun and Cleburne counties.
- Local news coverage
- Sports updates
- Opinion and entertainment
- Classifieds
- Obituaries
- Community features
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The Anniston Star serves East Alabama with news, sports, opinion and entertainment, plus classifieds, obituaries and community features. This mobile application contains our unmatched news coverage in Calhoun and Cleburne counties. Your AnnistonStar.com login credentials will give you full access to all content. Consolidated Publishing Co. is the parent company of The Anniston Star. It also publishes The Daily Home, The News-Journal, Cleburne News and St. Clair Times. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. https://www.annistonstar.com/site/terms-of-service/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: AL.com at 16K against The Anniston Star's 8. AL.com also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and chart position (#104 vs unranked). The Anniston Star's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. AL.com sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and The Anniston Star sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 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 — 4.5 for AL.com against 4.5 for The Anniston Star. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AL.com has 16K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two.
AL.com ships an update every 3 weeks, The Anniston Star every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AL.com | The Anniston Star |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (16K ratings) | 4.5 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 23.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 16K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #104 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 104 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | al.com | Consolidated Publishing Co., Inc. |
Customer experience
AL.com
The Anniston Star
Bugs and requests
AL.com
Reported bugs
3 issues- App title displaying incorrectly as 'OSU Basketball'
- Inability to access recent search history
- Difficulty closing ads or navigating back from articles
Requested features
3 requests- Improve app stability and performance
- Provide more balanced and objective news coverage
- Optimize ad placement to minimize disruption
The Anniston Star
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
AL.com
- Digital Access1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Digital Access$9.991 Month
- Basic Access to Al.com$10.001 Month
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- All Access to Al.com$15.001 Month
- Premium Access to Al.com$20.001 Month
- Digital Access1 Year trial$99.991 Year
- Digital Access$99.991 Year
- Basic Access to Al.com$100.001 Year
- All Access to Al.com$150.001 Year
- Premium Access to Al.com$200.001 Year
The Anniston Star
- Anniston Star monthly$7.991 Month
- Anniston Star annual subscription$69.991 Year
Questions
Is AL.com free?
Is The Anniston Star free?
Which has better reviews, AL.com or The Anniston Star?
Do AL.com or The Anniston Star have ads?
Which is updated more often, AL.com or The Anniston Star?
Other comparisons
