Comparison

Stacks vs Really Simple Reader

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Really Simple Reader

Features
Read full description

A feed reader that doesn't take itself more seriously than your articles. Really Simple Reader shows you what you've subscribed to – chronological, clear, no algorithm, no banner ads, no forced sign-up. As simple as it sounds: Enter a feed URL, done. Really Simple Reader stores everything locally on your device – no account needed. No login, no email address, no cloud requirement. Everything a feed reader needs: • A combined timeline for all feeds – or filtered by folder • A clean article view with no distractions, with Safari Reader as a fallback • Folders to organize your sources • "Read Later" for articles that don't fit right now • Notifications for new articles (optional) • Import/export your feed list (OPML) • Automatic cleanup of old articles, fully adjustable Your data stays your data. Everything is stored locally on your device. If you want, you can optionally enable sync across multiple devices – a deliberate extra feature, never a requirement. Really Simple Reader is for anyone who wants to use RSS the way it was meant to be: a calm, reliable way to keep track of your own sources – without an app getting between you and your articles.

Screenshots

Stacks4 screens
Really Simple Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stacks at none against Really Simple Reader's 1. Stacks also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 5 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Really Simple Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Stacks asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stacks ships an update daily, Really Simple Reader every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on July 18, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Stacks versus Really Simple Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStacksReally Simple Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB11 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperRichard RussellEnrico Weinhold

In-app purchases

None

Stacks

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Really Simple Reader

One-time1
  • Full Access$2.99

Questions

Is Stacks free?
Stacks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Really Simple Reader free?
Really Simple Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Stacks or Really Simple Reader have ads?
Neither Stacks nor Really Simple Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stacks or Really Simple Reader?
Stacks ships an update daily, and Really Simple Reader every 5 days. Most recently, Stacks was updated on July 18, 2026 and Really Simple Reader on September 18, 2026.

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