Comparison

Flux vs Beacon

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

Head to head
About

Flux

Consolidate your RSS and Atom feeds into a streamlined reading experience across Apple devices. Organize articles, discover content through images, and enjoy immersive reading modes. Listen to articles with text-to-speech and utilize AI summarization.

Highlights
  • Consolidates RSS and Atom feeds
  • Organize articles into folders
  • Browse stories with Feed Wall (images)
  • Full-screen immersive reading mode
  • Text-to-speech article playback
  • AI article summarization (Apple Intelligence)
  • iCloud library sync across devices
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Flux brings your RSS and Atom feeds together in a reading app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Follow your sources, organize your articles and find what interests you. TODAY'S ESSENTIALS The Today view offers a daily selection of your articles. The Feed Wall lets you browse stories through images. On iPad and Mac, full-screen mode makes reading more immersive. YOUR SOURCES, YOUR ORGANIZATION Add feeds, organize them into folders and save articles for later. Import and export your library to keep your sources together. READ YOUR WAY Open articles in the reader or visit the original page. Listen with text-to-speech. On compatible devices, Apple Intelligence can summarize articles directly on your device. This feature requires Apple Intelligence to be enabled and available in your language. ACROSS YOUR APPLE DEVICES Flux offers an interface tailored to iPhone, iPad and Mac, widgets, and iCloud library sync when you use iCloud. No Flux account required. You choose the sources you want to follow.

About

Beacon

Features
Read full description

Beacon brings the sites and people you follow into one reader for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Paste a site address and Beacon finds its RSS, Atom or JSON feed. Follow Mastodon and Bluesky accounts as feeds of their own. Bring your subscriptions from another reader with OPML, and take them with you whenever you like. Looking for more? Follow suggests sites that what you read already links to, and the websites of people you follow. YOUR OWN NEWSPAPER Open the Newspaper and the last day's articles are set as a front page, with a lead story, sections and In Brief, in a morning, afternoon or evening edition. With Apple Intelligence, stories covered by several of your sources appear once, with every source beside them. MADE FOR READING Articles open in a clean reading view, in the font, size and spacing you like, with a choice of line width on iPad and Mac. Timeline keeps everything in order and holds your place. Prefer an inbox? Classic shows only what you haven't read. Listen to any article read aloud. ORGANISED YOUR WAY β€’ Folders, pinned sources and icons in the sidebar β€’ Smart Folders from any saved search β€’ Mute keywords you'd rather not see β€’ Notifications for the feeds you choose β€’ Feed health flags feeds that have stopped working ASK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE READING Ask Siri to summarise an article or answer a question about it. Beacon answers from that article, on your device, with Apple Intelligence on supported devices. WHEREVER YOU READ β€’ Siri and Shortcuts actions: refresh before you sit down, or save an article in one step β€’ A Front Page widget for the Home Screen, the Lock Screen and the Mac desktop β€’ A proper Mac app, with keyboard shortcuts on Mac and on iPad with a keyboard β€’ Your library in sync through your private iCloud No Wells Code account, and no algorithmic feed in your Timeline. Just the sources you chose. One plan unlocks Beacon on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with Family Sharing: Annual or Monthly, each with a two-week free trial, or Pay Once. Terms of Use: https://wellscode.com/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://wellscode.com/privacy/

Screenshots

Flux4 screens
Beacon4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Beacon at Free against Flux's $3.99. Flux's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and chart position (#138 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Beacon is free to download; Flux costs $3.99 up front. Beacon sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Flux asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 6 level
Flux versus Beacon: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFluxBeacon
Price$3.99Free β€” better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviewsβ€”
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
MonetizationPaidβ€”
Best chart rank#138 β€” betterβ€”
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size19 MB57 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperAdrien DONOTWells Code Ltd

In-app purchases

None

Flux

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Beacon

Subscriptions2
  • Beacon β€” Monthly14 Days trial$1.491 Month
  • Beacon β€” Annual14 Days trial$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • Beacon β€” Pay Once$29.99

Questions

Is Flux free?
Flux costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Beacon free?
Beacon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Flux or Beacon have ads?
Neither Flux nor Beacon shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flux or Beacon?
Flux ships an update every 3 days, and Beacon every 3 days. Most recently, Flux was updated on November 8, 2026 and Beacon on November 8, 2026.

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