Kanso RSS vs Stacks
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kanso RSS
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WHY "KANSO" Kanso (簡素) is a Japanese idea of simplicity fewer ornaments, more breathing room. This app applies that to news: not a noisy timeline, but a calm shelf where typography, paper-like surfaces, and gentle spacing keep the focus on what you choose to read. WHAT YOU GET • Add RSS and Atom feeds, organised on shelves you name. • Today: what’s new across everything—filter by unread, all, or saved. • Saved articles with optional folders so “read later” stays tidy. • A reader built for long-form reading, with thumbnails you can tune. • Sign in to sync feeds, saved items, and settings across your devices (when enabled). KANSO PLUS (OPTIONAL) • Unlimited feeds (free tier includes up to 12 feeds). • Handwriting / ink on more articles (free tier includes up to 5 ink articles). • Quiet Focus: a calmer reader chrome when you want fewer distractions. • Page watch: when a site has no RSS, follow it as a lightweight link feed from the page (background refresh about weekly; timing isn’t guaranteed). If you want RSS without the rush, Kanso is the quiet corner for your reading list. Privacy Policy: https://tompaape.nl/kanso-rss-privacy Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Stacks
A distraction-free reader for newsletters, blogs, and podcasts that downloads content for offline access. Enjoy your favorite content anywhere, even without an internet connection, with smart automatic downloads and a clean interface.
- Fully offline content access
- Smart automatic downloading
- Distraction-free reading interface
- Built-in podcast player
- Fast full-text search
- Private by design, no account needed
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Stacks is a calm, fully offline reader for the newsletters, blogs, and podcasts you already follow. Add any Substack or RSS feed and Stacks downloads the full articles, images, and podcast episodes to your iPhone so you can read and listen anywhere, even with no signal. On a plane, on the subway, off the grid: nothing buffers, nothing reloads. WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT • Truly offline — full article text, images, and audio are stored on your device for reading and listening with no connection. • A clean, distraction-free reader with adjustable text size, light and dark themes, and a built-in podcast player. • Smart automatic downloading keeps your latest posts ready and manages storage for you. • Fast full-text search across everything you've saved. • Collapsible comment threads, when you want them. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Stacks has no servers of its own, no account, and no analytics. Everything it downloads stays on your device and goes nowhere else. No tracking, no ads. No account is required: just add a feed and pull to refresh. ——— Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Substack Inc.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stacks at none against Kanso RSS's 3. Stacks also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 8 days) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.2). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Kanso RSS sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Stacks asks for nothing beyond the download.
Kanso RSS ships an update every 8 days, Stacks daily. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and July 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kanso RSS | Stacks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tom Paape | Richard Russell |
In-app purchases
Kanso RSS
- Kanso Plus (Monthly)$2.991 Month
- anso Plus (Yearly)$17.991 Year
- Kanso Plus Lifetime$49.99
Stacks
No in-app purchases





