# Surfboard vs HackTheNews

The clearest difference is price: HackTheNews at Free against Surfboard's $4.99. HackTheNews also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Surfboard's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#118 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

HackTheNews is free to download; Surfboard costs $4.99 up front. HackTheNews sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Surfboard asks for nothing beyond the download.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Surfboard | HackTheNews |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/surfboard-rss-reader/id6475021166/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **2** | — |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | **#118** | — |
| Size | 4 MB | 39 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **15.1** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [Ian Leon](https://appshunter.io/developer/998975439) | [HackTheNews](https://appshunter.io/developer/1852327292) |

## What reviewers say

### Surfboard

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/surfboard-rss-reader/id6475021166)

**Currently charting:** #118 Top Paid · News (US App Store)

This app acts as a personalized news aggregator, allowing users to easily organize and curate content from various online sources into a single, streamlined feed. It offers a customizable reading experience with features like dark/light mode adaptation and respects system text size settings for accessibility.

**Highlights:** Effortless URL management, Customizable content curation by topics, Streamlined single feed, SwiftUI interface, SwiftData for reliable data handling, System setting adaptation (dark/light mode), Accessibility-focused design

**In-app purchases:** none


### HackTheNews

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackthenews/id6755159012)

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| HackTheNews Premium Monthly | $3.99 | per month |
| HackTheNews Premium Yearly | $39.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Surfboard free?

Surfboard costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is HackTheNews free?

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

### Do Surfboard or HackTheNews have ads?

Neither Surfboard nor HackTheNews shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Surfboard or HackTheNews?

Surfboard ships an update fortnightly, and HackTheNews fortnightly. Most recently, Surfboard was updated on October 27, 2026 and HackTheNews on October 20, 2026.

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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.*