Comparison

Newsela Student vs Mosyle School

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

Head to head
About

Newsela Student

This app offers engaging articles on diverse topics, each presented at five different reading levels. It includes activities and quizzes to deepen understanding, automatically adjusting difficulty to keep learners challenged and motivated. Students can track their progress and practice vocabulary.

Highlights
  • Leveled articles on any topic
  • Adjustable reading levels
  • Integrated activities and quizzes
  • Offline annotation and submission
  • Real-time progress tracking
  • Vocabulary practice (Power Words)
  • Curated and custom learning sets
Features
Read full description

Connect what’s happening in class to what’s happening in the world around you. Newsela brings authentic, real-world content into the classroom with embedded scaffolds that build knowledge, reading comprehension, and confidence across subject areas. Explore high-interest non-fiction articles, Generation Genius videos, and interactive PhET Simulations. What students can do in this app: EXPLORE HIGH-INTEREST TOPICS Discover fresh content across current events, science, technology, animals, sports, arts, pop culture, engineering, space, and more. READ YOUR OWN WAY Customize the experience with adjustable reading supports like Language Translation and Listen mode. INTERACT WITH ARTICLES Annotate text, take Polls, complete Checks for Understanding, and use Guided Highlighting. STAY ON TRACK View assignments, check due dates, and set up reminders. TAKE ON READING CHALLENGES Pick from a library of interesting articles, build independent reading habits, and earn classroom rewards. Why educators love Newsela: PROVEN SKILL GROWTH Research shows regular Newsela use can lead to up to four (4) additional months of literacy growth. RELEVANT AND TRUSTED Developed by expert learning designers in partnership with trusted publishers to deliver standards-aligned, engaging content each week. What educators are saying: “We need tools that are ever-changing, just like the world.” - New Jersey educator “Gives [students] something they can practice independently.” - Ohio teacher “They are pushing themselves to read at more difficult levels.” - Virginia teacher “They were able to connect to the novel, thereby bringing it to life.” - Michigan educator Since 2013, Newsela has worked toward one mission: Meaningful classroom learning for every student, every day. To get started, download the app and sign in with your school account or learning management system (LMS). Terms of Service: https://newsela.com/legal/terms Privacy Policy: https://newsela.com/legal/newsela-privacy-policy Help Center: https://help.newsela.com/en/

About

Mosyle School

This tool simplifies the management of Apple devices for educational institutions, enabling secure student device usage for learning. It offers robust classroom management features to minimize distractions and enhance student focus, while providing IT staff and teachers with shared control and real-time insights.

Highlights
  • Apple device deployment and configuration
  • Classroom distraction elimination
  • Student focus monitoring
  • Internet access regulation
  • App management and installation
  • Real-time device inventory and reports
  • Shared IT and teacher management
Features
Read full description

Mosyle School is an MDM solution designed exclusively for Education that streamlines the Apple device management process, simplifies iPad, Mac and Apple TV deployments for Schools and Districts, while ensuring students safely utilize devices for learning. It’s easy to set up, manage, and maintain, while being powerful enough to create the ideal learning environment for any School or District. THE BEST MDM SOLUTION TO GET THE MOST OUT OF ALL OF APPLE’S PROGRAM AND OS FEATURES: - Configure all management settings with Mosyle School to harness all Apple’s education features and deployment programs; - Connect Mosyle School with Apple School Manager, Device Enrollment Program and Volume Program Purchase to assign devices, apps, and configure device settings, apps, and books; - Get the most out of Apple’s Shared iPad and the Classroom App for iPad; UNIQUE & EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TOOLS: - Quickly eliminate any distractions from the devices; - Ensure student focus and attention is within the intended educational application; - Easily assess students during class to evaluate student progress; - Check compliance of student devices and solve any issues right in the classroom; - Customize and regulate student Internet access during class time; - Select apps allowed during class and remotely install them on student devices.
 AN ALWAYS-ON, CLOUD-BASED & SCALABLE SOLUTION TO SIMPLIFY DEPLOYMENTS: - Quickly take inventory and view reports of your device fleet in real time; - Shared management between IT Staff and Teachers; - Create time-based policies and restrictions – to work whether it’s before, during or after school; - Receive notifications when specific events occur across the managed device fleet; - Implement in any type of deployment model (BYOD, School Owned, 1:1 and Shared); - Rapid and easy device enrollment processes and flows; - Automatic load-balancing and fault tolerance across multiple Tier 3 data centers, with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. 
 *Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Mosyle School is designed to embrace and fully integrate with Apple’s new education features, and deployment programs (Apple School Manager, Device Enrollment Program and Volume Purchase Program). We're so excited with all the new possibilities we decided to include all necessary configuration with them in our basic, free plan. No hidden costs!

Screenshots

Newsela Student4 screens
Mosyle School4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Newsela Student at 76% against Mosyle School's 13%. Newsela Student also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.8) and ratings volume (29K vs 92). Mosyle School's advantage is iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Newsela Student holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Newsela Student has 29K ratings behind it against 92, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Newsela Student's written reviews are positive against 13% of Mosyle School's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Newsela Student versus Mosyle School: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNewsela StudentMosyle School
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (29K ratings) — better1.8 (92 ratings)
Positive reviews75.6% of reviews — better13.0% of reviews
Number of ratings29K — better92
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNewselaMosyle

Customer experience

Newsela Student

All ratings28,929 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral2.8%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews315 reviews
Positive75.6%
Neutral3.8%
Negative20.6%

Mosyle School

All ratings91 ratings
Positive20.9%
Neutral2.2%
Negative76.9%
Written reviews46 reviews
Positive13.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative87.0%

User reviews

Newsela Student

From 29K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good app for different reading levels
  • 📚 Variety of informative articles
  • 🎓 Useful for education and learning
  • 🤓 Helps improve reading and vocabulary
  • 🙌 Great resource for teachers and students

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🔍 Lack of specific search options
  • 💤 Boring or one-sided content
  • 🤔 Grading system needs improvement
  • 📱 Mobile app issues (login, navigation)

Mosyle School

From 92 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Works for schools
  • 👍 Easy to set up (for IT)
  • 💰 Cost-effective for schools

Room to improve

  • 👎 Restricts app access
  • 👎 Rearranges apps alphabetically
  • 👎 Cannot uninstall
  • 👎 Privacy concerns (screen recording)
  • 👎 Device management issues

Bugs and requests

Newsela Student

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues on iOS 12
  • Binder page frequently freezes or glitches
  • Inability to see all available article sets
  • Replying and submitting work takes too long

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add word definitions or translations
  • Implement auto-save for writing assignments
  • Introduce a teacher-specific version of the app
  • Expand content to include more global news
  • Improve multitasking and split-screen support

Mosyle School

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Device management starts randomly
  • Apps disappear and cannot be recovered
  • App won't open during Zoom meetings
  • App crashes everything
  • App rearranges apps alphabetically
Show 1 more
  • App slows down device speed

Requested features

7 requests
  • Allow users to uninstall
  • Allow users to keep apps in original place
  • Add more apps to the store
  • Admin console for QR codes
  • Allow users to play games during free periods/lunch
Show 2 more
  • Fix app rearrangement issue
  • Allow users to control screen recording permissions

In-app purchases

None

Newsela Student

No in-app purchases

None

Mosyle School

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Newsela Student free?
Newsela Student is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mosyle School free?
Mosyle School is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Newsela Student or Mosyle School?
Newsela Student is rated higher. Newsela Student averages 4.7 out of 5 from 29K ratings, while Mosyle School averages 1.8 from 92 ratings.
Do Newsela Student or Mosyle School have ads?
Neither Newsela Student nor Mosyle School shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Newsela Student or Mosyle School?
Newsela Student ships an update every 2 months, and Mosyle School every 2 months. Most recently, Newsela Student was updated on November 7, 2026 and Mosyle School on November 2, 2026.

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