PennLive vs PGe
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PennLive
Stay informed about local happenings with timely and reliable reporting on news, sports, and weather. Access in-depth coverage of community events, politics, business, and culture from a trusted source.
- Local news reporting
- Sports coverage
- Weather updates
- Politics and business news
- Culture and community events
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Get trusted local news from across Central Pennsylvania. 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. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Your subscriptions may be managed (and auto-renewal can be turned off) by going to your iTunes Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. If we offer a free trial, any unused portion of the free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://www.advance.net/advancedigitalUserAgreementPP/
PGe
Access complete news coverage from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, presented in a traditional newspaper layout. Enjoy daily editions, interactive puzzles, and access to past issues.
- Traditional newspaper layout
- Seven-day-a-week coverage
- Interactive puzzles
- 30-day past editions archive
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Complete news coverage from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, published seven days a week in a traditional newspaper layout. Feature include: Traditional newspaper layout Available seven days a week, including holidays Interactive puzzles Find past editions over a 30-day period Pittsburgh Post-Gazette subscription is required
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: PGe at free with in-app purchases against PennLive's subscription. PGe also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (28% vs 16%). PennLive's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.2) and chart position (#178 vs unranked). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. PennLive sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and PGe sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
PennLive holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.6K and 3.6K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 16% of PennLive's written reviews are positive against 28% of PGe's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
PennLive ships an update every 3 weeks, PGe monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PennLive | PGe |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (3.6K ratings) — better | 4.2 (3.6K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 16.4% of reviews | 28.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.6K | 3.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #178 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 70 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | PennLive LLC | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
Customer experience
PennLive
PGe
User reviews
PennLive
From 3.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast news coverage
- 👍 Great local news focus
- 👍 Excellent reporting staff
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app freezes and crashes
- 🔍 Difficult navigation and poor UI
- 💰 Excessive ads and paywall
- 🔍 Outdated and stale content
- 🔍 Biased and opinionated reporting
PGe
From 3.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth navigation
- 👍 Aesthetically pleasing
- 🚀 Convenient access to news
- 👍 Well-written and grammatically correct articles
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Outdated and delayed content
- 👎 Limited selection of articles
- 👎 Forced landscape mode on iPad
- 👎 Unreliable loading and downloading of editions
Bugs and requests
PennLive
Reported bugs
3 issues- App freezes and crashes on launch
- Inability to access articles after updates
- Inconsistent behavior across devices
Requested features
4 requests- Improved app stability and performance
- Streamlined and intuitive navigation
- Ability to read articles without paywall
- Unbiased and fact-based reporting
PGe
Reported bugs
4 issues- Blank screens when trying to open articles
- Jumping back to previous day's edition when using back button
- Inconsistent behavior when downloading new editions
- Puzzles and crosswords not working properly
Requested features
4 requests- Portrait mode option for iPad
- Ability to quickly browse and overview articles
- Automatic deletion of old editions to save storage
- Restore previous app features like toggling linked headlines
In-app purchases
PennLive
- Basic Access to PennLive.com$5.991 Month
- PennLive Sports Insider$7.991 Month
- Basic Access to PennLive.com$9.991 Month
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- Basic Access to PennLive.com1 Month trial2 variants$9.991 Month
- Basic Access to PennLive.com7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Subscriber Exclusive Content1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- All Access to PennLive.com$11.991 Month
- All Access to PennLive.com$15.001 Month
- All Access to PennLive.com6 Months trial$75.001 Year
- PennLive Sports Insider$79.991 Year
- All Access to PennLive.com$99.991 Year
- Basic Access to PennLive.com1 Year trial$99.991 Year
- BasicAccess to PennLive.com1 Year trial$99.991 Year
- Basic Access to PennLive.com$119.991 Year
PGe
- Post-Gazette Monthly Plan$11.991 Month
- Post-Gazette Annual Plan$129.991 Year
- Post-Gazette Day Pass$0.99
