Comparison

Rosella for Hacker News vs stdout.

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

Head to head
About

Rosella for Hacker News

A modern, privacy-focused reader for Hacker News content. It offers full functionality, including reading, commenting, voting, and submitting stories, with extensive customization options. Designed natively for iOS devices, it provides an ad-free and tracking-free experience.

Highlights
  • Full Hacker News functionality
  • Participate in discussions
  • Vote on stories
  • Hide disliked websites
  • Customize colors
  • Native iOS interface
  • No tracking or ads
Features
Read full description

Rosella is a beautiful Hacker News reader, designed from the ground up to provide the best possible experience on iPhone and iPad. * Full Hacker News functionality Read stories, participate in discussions, vote, see poll results, submit content, reply to others and view user profiles. You can do it all from Rosella! * Make It Yours Hide stories from websites you dislike, choose your favorite colors, and customize the experience with many more options! * Designed for iPhone (and iPad!) Rosella features a native, clean interface that makes it feel right at home on your device. * No tracking, no ads Rosella is a privacy respecting app made by an independent developer. Whether you're a longtime Hacker News user or just discovering it, I hope you'll enjoy using Rosella. Try it out and take your Hacker News game to the next level! Disclaimer: This app is an independent creation and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Y Combinator or the official Hacker News site in any way.

About

stdout.

Features
Read full description

stdout. is a native iOS client for Hacker News, built from the ground up with SwiftUI. It goes far beyond content aggregation — offering a rich, interactive experience designed around how you actually read. DUAL THEMES Switch between two handcrafted visual modes. Zen offers warm, editorial typography with Georgia serif headlines. Terminal transforms the app into a retro green-on-black CRT aesthetic, complete with monospaced type and animated scanlines. OFFLINE-FIRST WITH SWIFTDATA Stories and comments are cached locally so the app loads instantly on launch. When your connection drops, you keep reading seamlessly with a subtle offline indicator. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Add a Top Stories widget to your home screen in Small or Medium size. The widget updates every 30 minutes and matches your in-app theme. Tap any story to jump straight to it. NATIVE INTERACTIONS Long-press any story to save it to Favorites, share the link, or hide it from your feed. Pull-to-refresh and save actions are accompanied by haptic feedback for a tactile, responsive feel. IN-APP READING Story links open in a themed Safari View Controller with optional Reader Mode — no context switching to external apps.

Screenshots

Rosella for Hacker News4 screens
stdout.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: stdout. at none against Rosella for Hacker News's 1. stdout. also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Rosella for Hacker News's advantage is ads (none vs shown). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rosella for Hacker News sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. stdout. asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rosella for Hacker News ships an update every 2 months, stdout. every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Rosella for Hacker News versus stdout.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRosella for Hacker Newsstdout.
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB5 MB
Age rating9+17+
DeveloperDiego Otero DiazHanshuo Tan

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Rosella for Hacker News

One-time1
  • Rosella Pro$4.99
None

stdout.

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Rosella for Hacker News free?
Rosella for Hacker News is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is stdout. free?
stdout. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Rosella for Hacker News or stdout. have ads?
stdout. shows ads; Rosella for Hacker News does not.
Which is updated more often, Rosella for Hacker News or stdout.?
Rosella for Hacker News ships an update every 2 months, and stdout. every 4 days. Most recently, Rosella for Hacker News was updated on October 27, 2026 and stdout. on October 24, 2026.

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