Comparison

Beacon vs One4Paper

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

Head to head
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 • Folders, pinned sources and icons in the sidebar • Smart Folders from any saved search • Mute keywords you'd rather not see • Notifications for the feeds you choose • 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 • Siri and Shortcuts actions: refresh before you sit down, or save an article in one step • A Front Page widget for the Home Screen, the Lock Screen and the Mac desktop • A proper Mac app, with keyboard shortcuts on Mac and on iPad with a keyboard • 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/

About

One4Paper

Features
Read full description

Your RSS feeds, printed into a daily newspaper. One4Paper is a native RSS and Atom reader for a slower way to read the news. Open a fixed edition, turn its pages and tap a headline to read the story. Start with available RSS sources or add your own RSS feeds, personal publisher feeds and OPML files. YOUR DAILY PAPER • A front page, sections and a closing summary, with Curl, Slide or Instant page turns. • Edition contents, read marks, page jumps and estimated reading time. • Short, standard or long editions. New editions leave out previously printed stories. • Download available article text and photos for offline reading, with a Wi-Fi option, progress and retry. • Adjust text size, select and copy article text, and use accessible paragraphs. • Save articles, share a newspaper clipping and keep a week of editions. • Light, dark and automatic appearance on white paper. • Layouts for iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo, including a two-page spread when there is room. • A mini crossword, a headline widget and weather for a city you enter or an approximate location you request. • Optional iCloud sync for settings and saved articles. Personal feed addresses stay on this device. • No app account required. No tracking or advertising SDK is included. Publisher subscriptions are separate. Available text and photos depend on the feed and your publisher access. Openly licensed Global Voices sources include author and licence attribution; images requiring separate rights are omitted. Other sources use content supplied in their RSS feeds. Unreviewed public article pages are not scraped. Offline reading requires downloaded content. Translation depends on supported languages and models. iOS decides when background editions and downloads can run. Privacy: https://www.one4studio.com/one4paper/privacy Terms: https://www.one4studio.com/one4paper/terms

Screenshots

Beacon4 screens
One4Paper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: One4Paper at 17.0 against Beacon's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

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

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

Both are free to download. Beacon sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month and One4Paper sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beacon ships an update every 3 days, One4Paper every 2 days. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 5 level
Beacon versus One4Paper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeaconOne4Paper
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB26 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperWells Code LtdVUK ANDRIC PR STUDIO ZA GRAFICKI DIZAJN I IZRADU VEB SAJTOVA One4Studio CUPRIJA

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Beacon

Subscriptions2
  • Beacon — Monthly14 Days trial$1.491 Month
  • Beacon — Annual14 Days trial$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • Beacon — Pay Once$29.99
2 purchases

One4Paper

Subscriptions1
  • One4Paper Pro Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • One4Paper Pro Lifetime$19.99

Questions

Is Beacon free?
Beacon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is One4Paper free?
One4Paper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Beacon or One4Paper have ads?
Neither Beacon nor One4Paper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beacon or One4Paper?
Beacon ships an update every 3 days, and One4Paper every 2 days. Most recently, Beacon was updated on November 8, 2026 and One4Paper on November 8, 2026.

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