NextDraft vs Daily Beast
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NextDraft
Get a curated summary of the day's ten most fascinating news stories, handpicked by an expert news addict. This app cuts through online clutter to deliver essential, entertaining, and often surprising content in an easy-to-read format.
- Daily summary of top 10 news stories
- Expertly curated content
- Easy-to-read format
- Save articles to read later
- Includes viral videos and photos
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Real News Daily. Dave Pell, Internet wit and news addict, provides a smart summary of the day's ten most fascinating news stories. "Dave finds stuff I didn't see but should have. Add that to his drop-dead sexiness and you've got yourself an indispensable newsletter." - Steve Bodow, Executive Producer, The Daily Show "You will feel smarter and happier after you download it." - TechCrunch "The NextDraft newsletter is indispensable. Dave Pell cuts through the clutter with urgency, humor and smarts. I never miss it." - Don Van Natta Jr., ESPN "On any given day, Dave turns up the top 10 stories that are important, moving, hilarious, and just weird. Next Draft finds the signal in all the noise that's out there." - Bob Cohn, President, Atlantic Media The News Trusted By Those Who Write the News: "A consistently informative and entertaining guide to some of the best stories on the web, with a healthy mix of news you should know, want to know, and prefer to pretend you didn't read." - Maria Konnikova, New Yorker "Think of Dave Pell as the Internet’s managing editor. The NYT meets SNL. Smart, funny, essential." - Phil Bronstein, Executive Chair, Center for Investigative Reporting "NextDraft is a must-read." - Ram Ramgopal, CNN Executive Editor "Like all great curators, Pell continually provides answers to questions you weren’t even aware you were asking; even as he feeds your mind, he cultivates and expands your curiosity. I read NextDraft the way I breathe, and for the same reason." - Andrew Corsello, GQ "There are days - hell, weeks - where I would be completely lost without the Internet concierge that is NextDraft." - Hilary Sargent, Boston Globe "It is about time the Internet had a managing editor, and Dave Pell turns out to be the perfect choice for he job. NextDraft is always nourishing, often surprising and quite witty (especially given that he is an American). An essential tea time read." - Matthew Bishop, The Economist "Dave is an expert at picking through the deluge and serving up the day's best stories from a huge variety of websites." - Sapna Maheshwari, Buzzfeed Highlights: You need an algorithm to help cut to through the Internet's clutter. News junkie Dave Pell is that algorithm. He combs dozens of sites, finds the most fascinating news stores, and then provides a fast, pithy summary that will make your iPhone vibrate with awesomeness. - Get a quick overview of what matters today. - View the news in a simple, easy to read format. - Save articles to your favorite read later tool with one click (Readability, Instapaper, Pocket, etc). - Don't miss the day's best viral videos and photos. - Be the star of any dinner party.
Daily Beast
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.
- Award-winning original reporting
- Sharp opinion pieces
- Politics and pop-culture coverage
- World news updates
- Offline reading
- The Cheat Sheet™ news summary
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The Daily Beast app puts you at the center of the stories everyone is talking about. Get must-know headlines across politics, culture, and world news in a faster and more immersive experience. Our updated app is: A completely reimagined experience that brings clarity and a distinct voice to the news that matters now. A dynamic home that surfaces the biggest stories of the moment, updated throughout the day. A better way to read, with fewer distractions and a smoother flow. Subscription Details: A Daily Beast subscription unlocks exclusive reporting, subscriber-only content, our full suite of newsletters and the distinctive perspectives you won’t find anywhere else. Subscription purchases made through Apple will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase and automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel Apple subscriptions anytime in your App Store account settings. Subscriptions purchased outside of the app are managed through the original purchase provider. Privacy Policy: https://www.thedailybeast.com/company/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.thedailybeast.com/company/terms-of-use California Privacy Notice: https://www.thedailybeast.com/company/privacy-policy#california
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: NextDraft at 87% against Daily Beast's 33%. NextDraft also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). Daily Beast's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (7.7K vs 86). On price and device support 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. Daily Beast sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. NextDraft asks for nothing beyond the download.
Daily Beast holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Daily Beast has 7.7K ratings behind it against 86, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 87% of NextDraft's written reviews are positive against 33% of Daily Beast's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
NextDraft ships an update every 4 months, Daily Beast fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NextDraft | Daily Beast |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (86 ratings) | 4.8 (7.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 86.9% of reviews — better | 32.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 86 | 7.7K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #75 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 92 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | NextDraft | The Daily Beast Company LLC |
Customer experience
NextDraft
Daily Beast
User reviews
NextDraft
From 86 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Efficient news curation
- 👍 Entertaining and insightful commentary
- 🔍 Comprehensive coverage of important news
- 📚 Diverse range of interesting articles
- 💻 Clean and intuitive app design
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or stability issues
- 🔆 Lack of dark mode option
- 🔗 Difficulty tracking read/unread content
Daily Beast
From 7.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and up-to-date reporting
- 👍 Concise and easy-to-understand articles
- 💡 Unique and insightful perspectives
- 🚀 Convenient and accessible app
- 👍 Informative and entertaining content
Room to improve
- 🐛 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
Bugs and requests
NextDraft
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on launch with older iOS versions
- Scrolling issues on some devices
Requested features
3 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to mark articles as read/unread
- More font size options
Daily Beast
Reported bugs
5 issues- 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
5 requests- 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
In-app purchases
NextDraft
No in-app purchases
Daily Beast
- MONTHLY$4.991 Month
- Monthly1 Month trial$4.991 Month
- MONTHLY$5.991 Month
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- The Daily Beast1 Month trial$5.991 Month
- Annual$34.991 Year
- ANNUAL$49.991 Year
- Annual1 Year trial$49.991 Year
- The Daily Beast1 Year trial2 variants$59.991 Year
- The Daily Beast1 Year trial$119.991 Year









