Comparison

Circles Reader vs 4th Estate

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

Head to head
About

Circles Reader

Features
Read full description

Stay updated with the latest news, blogs, and articles from your favorite sources with Circles Reader, the ultimate RSS reader designed for the modern user. Whether you're a news junkie, a blog enthusiast, or simply someone who loves to stay informed, Circles Reader is your go-to app for a seamless reading experience. Key Features: - Syncs all your feeds and articles via your favorite RSS aggregator service - Dark mode: reduce eye strain and enjoy reading in low-light environments

About

4th Estate

Features
Read full description

If you're satisfied with the dominant RSS readers, Fourth Estate isn't for you. Those apps share the same premise: your subscriptions are an inbox. Reading is a queue to drain. Unread counts are guilt counters. The goal is zero. Fourth Estate rejects all of that. Your feeds aren't an inbox. They're raw material for a newspaper you publish to yourself. You're the editor. You design the sections. You place the hero stories. You decide the front page. Apple Intelligence reads new arrivals on your Mac, entirely on-device, and assigns every piece a priority β€” breaking, deep read, skim, or skip. You read what matters. You skim what's worth a glance. You skip the rest without guilt. That's what editors do. The reader is slow on purpose. Serif type. Generous margins. 48 fonts. 11 themes. Articles are meant to be finished, not processed. This is RSS reimagined as journalism β€” not productivity software. Three modes coexist: a Paper you design like a broadsheet, an AI-triaged Today briefing, and a Wire for the moments you actually do want the firehose. THE PAPER β€’ Front Page with hero card, continue reading grid, and two-column headlines β€’ Custom newspaper sections β€” swipe between them like pages of a broadsheet β€’ Assign any feeds to any section, reorder freely TODAY β€’ Apple Intelligence triages new articles on your Mac, entirely on-device β€’ Each piece gets a priority β€” breaking, deep read, skim, or skip β€’ Plus a 3-5 sentence summary, topic tag, and auto-applied content tags β€’ Triage syncs to iPhone and iPad via iCloud β€’ Breaking-article notifications keep you on top of what matters THE WIRE β€’ Quick views: All, Unread, Read, Favorites, Archived β€” for when you want the queue β€’ Categories, smart filters with 13 rule fields, and full feed management β€’ Blocklist rules auto-hide articles you never want to see β€” by title, author, source, content, or any combination β€’ OPML import/export to migrate from other readers THE VAULT β€’ Library for favorites, saved articles, and archived pieces β€’ Tag-based filtering with untagged article support β€’ Paper-style card layouts for browsing your collection ARTICLE READER β€’ 48 fonts: New York, Baskerville, Palatino, Helvetica Neue, Futura, and more β€’ 11 app-wide themes including Sepia, Forest, Ocean, and OLED Black β€’ Typography controls: size, spacing, alignment, margins, content width β€’ Full-text extraction when feeds provide only summaries ALSO INCLUDES β€’ iCloud sync for articles, feeds, sections, tags, smart filters, and reading positions β€’ Share Extension to save articles from Safari β€’ Background refresh at configurable intervals β€’ Soft-delete trash with recovery PREMIUM 4th Estate is free to download with 4 feeds and 10 saved articles included. Upgrade to Premium for unlimited feeds, unlimited saved articles, AI triage with breaking-article notifications, and sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac β€” through a single annual subscription. One subscription covers every Apple device on your Apple ID. Built with SwiftUI and SwiftData for iOS 26+ and macOS 26+. PRIVACY FIRST: All your data stays on your devices and syncs via your personal iCloud account. AI triage runs entirely on-device with Apple Intelligence β€” no servers, no tracking, no data collection. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Fourth Estate Premium is a single annual auto-renewable subscription. After the 2-month free trial, payment will be charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase, and will auto-renew at the same price each year unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel subscriptions in your Apple ID account settings after purchase. Privacy Policy: https://www.termsfeed.com/live/475c4de9-ef7b-4c7e-980a-aad808043eae Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Circles Reader4 screens
4th Estate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Circles Reader at none against 4th Estate's 1. Circles Reader also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.2). 4th Estate's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. 4th Estate sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $49.99 per year. Circles Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Circles Reader ships an update fortnightly, 4th Estate weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
Circles Reader versus 4th Estate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCircles Reader4th Estate
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly β€” better
AdsYesNo β€” better
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 β€” better26.2
Further details β€” not scored
Size58 MB5 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperCircles IncorporatedParag Patel

In-app purchases

None

Circles Reader

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

4th Estate

Subscriptions1
  • Fourth Estate Premium2 Months trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Circles Reader free?
Circles Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is 4th Estate free?
4th Estate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Circles Reader or 4th Estate have ads?
Circles Reader shows ads; 4th Estate does not.
Which is updated more often, Circles Reader or 4th Estate?
Circles Reader ships an update fortnightly, and 4th Estate weekly. Most recently, Circles Reader was updated on September 20, 2026 and 4th Estate on September 16, 2026.

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