Comparison

Headlines vs RSS

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

Head to head
About

Headlines

Follow your favorite websites and read their latest content in a clean, ad-free reader. Organize articles into collections, save them for later, and receive daily reminders. Discover new content and enhance your reading with summarization and note-taking tools.

Highlights
  • Ad-free reading experience
  • Chronological content feed
  • Organize content into collections
  • Save articles for later
  • Summarize and take notes on articles
  • Discover new content and sites
Features
Read full description

Headlines is an app that allows you to follow your favourite websites and read content in an ad-free reader that is designed to let you focus. It’s the best way to keep up with the content you love to read online, like news sites, blogs, newsletters, and more. Headlines gives you a chronological feed of the latest content from the sites you follow instead of an algorithm telling you what to read. FEATURES: - Follow sites and writers (just like you follow people on social media) - Beautiful ad-free reader designed to help you focus without distracting ads - News Flash: Receive a morning, afternoon and evening roundup of what’s going on in your world. - Detox Mode: Need to take a break from specific topics or sites? Detox mode makes it easy. - Set your reading time routine in the app and get reminded when it’s time to read - Add anything to your saved list to read later, including pages from around the web from the Safari extension - Organize your content into collections, including sites, articles, and links from around the web. Great for organizing content around a given topic! - Powerful reading tools: enhance your reading experience with summaries, notes, highlighting and more. - Discover: find new content by exploring tags, featured sites, and suggestions based on your interests - Available on the web and iOS! Experience the full-featured web app on your desktop or from anywhere. Headlines is free to use with reasonable limitations that are lifted with a subscription to Headlines Pro. Made in Toronto by a human! Terms of Service: https://headlines.fm/terms\ Privacy Policy: https://headlines.fm/terms

About

RSS

Consolidate your favorite websites into a single, streamlined feed reader. Enjoy fast navigation, automatic feed detection, and offline translation for articles. Keep your reading organized with folders and sync your progress across devices.

Highlights
  • Automatic feed detection
  • Organize feeds with folders
  • Fast article navigation
  • Background refresh & push notifications
  • Bookmark articles
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Offline auto-translation
Read full description

RSS - Article Reader is a clean, fast feed reader that brings all your favorite websites together in one place. Designed to feel right at home on your iPhone. A clean interface, smooth performance, and a reading experience built for speed. • Wide Format Support Supports every version of RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed. Just paste a website URL and feeds are detected automatically. • Organize with Folders Group your feeds into folders to keep your subscriptions tidy and easy to navigate. • Read Through Articles Fast Navigate between articles and mark as read with a single tap. Every button is placed for effortless reading flow. • Never Miss an Update Background refresh and push notifications keep you informed when your favorite sites publish new content. • Bookmark Articles Save articles to read later and revisit them anytime. • Sync Across Devices iCloud keeps your subscriptions, read status, and bookmarks in sync. Switch phones without missing a beat. • Easy Migration Switch from another reader with OPML import and export. • Auto-translate foreign articles Translate articles with one tap from the detail view. The feature is powered by Apple's translation engine and works offline too.

Screenshots

Headlines4 screens
RSS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Headlines at 5.0 against RSS's 3.0. Headlines also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). RSS's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. Headlines sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. RSS asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Headlines holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Headlines ships an update weekly, RSS every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Headlines versus RSS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeadlinesRSS
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better3.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB13 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBradley PurchaseClimb App

Customer experience

Headlines

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

RSS

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Headlines

Subscriptions2
  • Headlines Pro (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Headlines Pro (Yearly)1 Year trial$44.991 Year
None

RSS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Headlines free?
Headlines is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RSS free?
RSS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Headlines or RSS?
Headlines is rated higher. Headlines averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while RSS averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Headlines or RSS have ads?
Neither Headlines nor RSS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Headlines or RSS?
Headlines ships an update weekly, and RSS every 2 weeks. Most recently, Headlines was updated on October 1, 2026 and RSS on October 10, 2026.

Other comparisons