Simple News Reader vs NetNewsWire
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Simple News Reader
This app offers a clean and intuitive interface for managing RSS feeds. Easily add, refresh, and browse articles, with options to save for later and a convenient night mode.
- Clean and intuitive interface
- Easy feed management
- Save articles for later
- Night mode
- Search functionality
- Share articles
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Are you looking for a nice clean designed Rss Reader with all the functions you always missed with others? Then Simple News Reader is perfect for your needs. The app makes it super easy to add feeds, refresh them, scroll through articles and even share or save them for later reading. Simple News Reader combines following functions: - A simple, intuitive and clean interface - Managing feeds, simple adding process with auto pasting from clipboard. - Convenient paging through articles - Saving articles for later reading - Nightmode for reading your favourite feeds in bed - Search feature
NetNewsWire
This app aggregates articles from your favorite blogs and news sites, offering a faster and more organized way to consume content. It provides control over your news feed, eliminating the need to visit multiple websites or rely on social media algorithms. Enjoy a streamlined reading experience with customizable features and syncing capabilities.
- Direct feed downloading
- iCloud and third-party syncing
- Customizable article themes
- Reader view
- Starred articles
- Smart feeds
- Home screen widgets
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It’s like podcasts, but for reading. NetNewsWire is a free and open source RSS reader. It shows you articles from your favorite blogs and news sites and keeps track of what you’ve read. It’s fast, stable, and accessible. If you’ve been going from site to site in your browser looking for new articles to read — or counting on the unreliable algorithms of corporate social media — let NetNewsWire bring you the news you want. It’s easy and fun. And it puts you, not billionaires, in control of your news. Features: * Direct feed downloading * Syncing via iCloud, Feedbin, Feedly, BazQux, Inoreader, NewsBlur, The Old Reader, and FreshRSS * Multiple accounts * Custom article themes * Reader view * Share sheet * Starred articles * All Unread and Today smart feeds * Folders * Importing and exporting OPML feed lists * Background refreshing * Searching * Hiding read articles * Timeline customization * Keyboard shortcuts * Context menus * Home screen widgets for today, unread, and starred articles * Share extension
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: NetNewsWire at 4.7 against Simple News Reader's 3.3. NetNewsWire also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 9 months) and ratings volume (890 vs 3). Simple News Reader's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
NetNewsWire holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NetNewsWire has 890 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Simple News Reader ships an update every 9 months, NetNewsWire monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simple News Reader | NetNewsWire |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (3 ratings) | 4.7 (890 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 83.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 890 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #107 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Ferdinand Hof | Brent Simmons |
Customer experience
Simple News Reader
NetNewsWire
In-app purchases
Simple News Reader
No in-app purchases
NetNewsWire
No in-app purchases
