Comparison

The Berkshire Eagle vs The Republican

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

Head to head
About

The Berkshire Eagle

Access local, national, and world news with this e-edition app. Browse by section, search keywords, and enjoy text-to-speech narration and language translation. Find local listings, real estate, employment, puzzles, and Sudoku.

Highlights
  • Local and breaking news
  • National and world news
  • Browse by sections and articles
  • Keyword search
  • Text-to-speech narration
  • Language translator
  • Classifieds and job listings
Features
Read full description

Read local and late breaking news in the Berkshires, while staying connected to national and world-wide news. The app allows you to browse by sections, articles, past editions, and conduct keyword search. Text-to-speech option will narrate any story to you; and language translator works with several languages. Check the classifieds for local listings, explore real estate and employment opportunities. Entertain yourself with puzzles and sudoku games. Active subscription is required for full access; otherwise the 3 stories per month limit is imposed. Enjoy the best newspaper in the Berkshires!

About

The Republican

Access award-winning local news, daily features, sports, entertainment, and more from your favorite newspaper. Enjoy online-only perks like bonus magazines, puzzles, and easy article sharing. Subscribers get full access by logging in.

Highlights
  • Award-winning local news
  • Daily features and updates
  • Sports and entertainment highlights
  • Online-only perks
  • Bonus magazines and supplements
  • Interactive puzzles and games
  • Easy article sharing
Features
Read full description

Welcome to The Republican's new Online Newspaper app! Dive into the newspaper anytime, anywhere. Keep up with award-winning local news, daily features, sports updates, entertainment highlights, special sections, and more—all at your fingertips! Enjoy online-only perks with an enhanced reading experience, including bonus magazines, supplements, interactive puzzles and games, and easy article sharing with friends and family. Republican subscribers receive full access to each edition without any extra cost. Just log in with your existing email and password to explore everything we offer! Terms of Use: https://www.advancelocal.com/advancelocalUserAgreement/user-agreement.html Privacy Policy: https://www.advancelocal.com/advancelocalUserAgreement/privacy-policy.html ====== SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ====== If you are not a current Republican subscriber, we offer the following App-only subscription option: 1 Month Auto-renewing Subscription: $24.99 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.

Screenshots

The Berkshire Eagle4 screens
The Republican4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Berkshire Eagle at none against The Republican's 1. The Berkshire Eagle also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and review sentiment (88% vs 76%). The Republican's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, ratings volume and monetization model 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. The Republican sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $24.99 per month. The Berkshire Eagle 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 The Berkshire Eagle against 4.5 for The Republican. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 571 and 591 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 88% of The Berkshire Eagle's written reviews are positive against 76% of The Republican's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Berkshire Eagle ships an update every 2 months, The Republican every 6 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
The Berkshire Eagle versus The Republican: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Berkshire EagleThe Republican
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (571 ratings) — better4.5 (591 ratings)
Positive reviews87.5% of reviews — better76.0% of reviews
Number of ratings571591 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 6 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.2 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB32 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperNew England Newspapers Inc.The Republican Company

Customer experience

The Berkshire Eagle

All ratings563 ratings
Positive90.6%
Neutral3.7%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews104 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral4.8%
Negative7.7%

The Republican

All ratings473 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral3.6%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive76.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative12.0%

User reviews

The Berkshire Eagle

From 571 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use app
  • 🚀 Convenient access to local news
  • 🚀 Frequent updates
  • 👍 Good local coverage
  • 👍 Informative and trustworthy reporting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🔍 Navigation and UI could be improved
  • 🔍 Lack of dates on articles
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate between articles and sections
  • 🔍 Excessive pop-up ads

The Republican

From 591 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Good local news
  • 👍 Factual and informative
  • 👍 Consistently updated
  • 👍 Smooth interface

Room to improve

  • 😞 New format disliked
  • 😞 Small article size
  • 😞 Difficult to enlarge print
  • 😞 Difficult to change pages
  • 😞 Paper won't scroll vertical

Bugs and requests

The Berkshire Eagle

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Navigation issues when moving between articles and sections
  • Inability to switch out of e-edition view
  • Inconsistent login/subscription recognition

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to save/bookmark articles
  • Improve search functionality
  • Implement a dark mode option
  • Add more detailed local news coverage

The Republican

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Cannot get e-edition
  • App won't work
  • App crashes with iPadOS 13.1 update
  • Email not working yet

Requested features

2 requests
  • Allow payment for online only
  • Add national and international news

In-app purchases

None

The Berkshire Eagle

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

The Republican

Subscriptions1
  • Republican Monthly$24.991 Month

Questions

Is The Berkshire Eagle free?
The Berkshire Eagle is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Republican free?
The Republican is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Berkshire Eagle or The Republican?
The Berkshire Eagle is rated higher. The Berkshire Eagle averages 4.6 out of 5 from 571 ratings, while The Republican averages 4.5 from 591 ratings.
Do The Berkshire Eagle or The Republican have ads?
The Berkshire Eagle shows ads; The Republican does not.
Which is updated more often, The Berkshire Eagle or The Republican?
The Berkshire Eagle ships an update every 2 months, and The Republican every 6 months. Most recently, The Berkshire Eagle was updated on November 6, 2026 and The Republican on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons