GNews vs GDELT Project: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
GNews (4.1/5) edges ahead of GDELT Project (4.0/5) overall. GNews is the better choice for indie developers needing affordable commercial news access. GDELT Project is the stronger option for researchers and data scientists with no budget. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
GNews vs GDELT Project: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | GNews | GDELT Project |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | Not disclosed | 2013 |
| HQ | Not publicly disclosed | Open research project (no commercial HQ) |
| Team size | Not publicly disclosed | Not publicly disclosed |
| Rating | 4.1 / 5 | 4.0 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Two simple endpoints with commercial rights from €49.99 a month | Free global coverage with 15-minute updates and BigQuery access |
| Pricing model | Monthly or yearly plans in euros | Free |
| Entry price | €49.99/mo | Free |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON | REST API, JSON, CSV |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, AI & LLM apps, Marketing & PR | Research & academia, Risk & compliance, Media monitoring |
GNews vs GDELT Project: overview
GNews
GNews is a compact API with a search endpoint and a top-headlines endpoint, filtered by country, language and category. The site does not name its operator. It credits a studio called Gigathink and lists only a contact email, so company size and founding year are not public. Plans are priced in euros. The free tier allows 100 requests a day for non-commercial use with 30 days of history, Essential (€49.99 a month) adds commercial rights, 1,000 requests a day and articles back to 2020, and Business and Enterprise raise the daily quota to 5,000 and 25,000.
GDELT Project
The GDELT Project, created by Kalev Leetaru, is an open research database that monitors broadcast, print and web news worldwide in more than 65 languages and publishes updates every 15 minutes. Its DOC 2.0 API searches recent coverage and returns article lists and timelines, while bulk event and knowledge-graph files can be queried in Google BigQuery. The main APIs are free and need no key. What you get back is metadata and links, so you still have to fetch and parse each page yourself.
Features: GNews vs GDELT Project
| Capability | GNews | GDELT Project |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✓ | ✗ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✗ | ✓ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Licensed publisher content | ✗ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: GNews vs GDELT Project
| Format / SDK | GNews | GDELT Project |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Python SDK | N/A | N/A |
| Node.js SDK | N/A | N/A |
| Webhooks | N/A | N/A |
| WebSocket | N/A | N/A |
| MCP server | N/A | N/A |
| S3/bulk delivery | N/A | N/A |
| BigQuery | N/A | ✓ |
Pricing comparison: GNews vs GDELT Project
| Criterion | GNews | GDELT Project |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | €49.99/mo | Free |
| Pricing model | Monthly or yearly plans in euros | Free |
| Access models | Free tier, Monthly plans | Open data |
| Price transparency | Public price | Public price |
| Price tier | Budget | Free |
Who each API suits: GNews vs GDELT Project
| Dimension | GNews | GDELT Project |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, AI & LLM apps, Marketing & PR | Research & academia, Risk & compliance, Media monitoring |
| Example use cases | A news widget or digest in a consumer app. A small SaaS feature that pulls headlines by country. | Academic studies of global media coverage. Geopolitical risk dashboards built in BigQuery. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Open data |
GNews vs GDELT Project: pros and cons
| GNews | |
|---|---|
| + | Two endpoints and plain parameters, so a working call takes minutes |
| + | Commercial rights start at €49.99 a month, and yearly billing cuts that by about 20% |
| + | Up to 100 articles per request on the top plan |
| + | Paid tiers include full article content |
| - | History only goes back to 2020 |
| - | The operator and its support capacity are opaque |
| - | No entity, sentiment or clustering data |
| GDELT Project | |
|---|---|
| + | Completely free, bulk files and BigQuery tables included |
| + | Machine-translated coverage across 65+ languages, which is rare at any price |
| + | Event coding (who did what to whom, and where) supports geopolitical analysis |
| + | Fresh data every 15 minutes |
| - | No full article text, only URLs, metadata and derived signals |
| - | No SLA, commercial support or guaranteed uptime |
| - | Research-grade data structures take time to understand |
Who should choose GNews?
A typical fit: a news widget or digest in a consumer app.
Two simple endpoints with commercial rights from €49.99 a month. Paid access starts at €49.99/mo. Typical uses: News & content apps, AI & LLM apps, Marketing & PR.
Who should choose GDELT Project?
A typical fit: academic studies of global media coverage.
Free global coverage with 15-minute updates and BigQuery access. Paid access starts at Free. Typical uses: Research & academia, Risk & compliance, Media monitoring.
Decision matrix: GNews vs GDELT Project
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | GDELT Project |
| You need full article text in the response | GNews |
| You need years of historical news | Both |
| You need licensed premium or wire content | Neither; look at Factiva, AP or LexisNexis |
| You are wiring news into an LLM agent | Both work through plain REST calls |
Use case fit: GNews vs GDELT Project
| Use case | GNews fit | GDELT Project fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & content apps | Strong | Limited | GNews |
| AI & LLM apps | Strong | Limited | GNews |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Limited | GNews |
| Research & academia | Limited | Strong | GDELT Project |
| Risk & compliance | Limited | Strong | GDELT Project |
| Media monitoring | Limited | Strong | GDELT Project |
Verdict: GNews vs GDELT Project
GNews (4.1/5) is the stronger overall choice as a news data source. Two simple endpoints with commercial rights from €49.99 a month.
GDELT Project (4.0/5) is worth a look if you need geopolitical risk dashboards built in BigQuery. If your situation matches that, GDELT Project is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
GNews vs GDELT Project FAQ
Is GNews better than GDELT Project?
GNews (4.1/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. GNews's strongest advantage: two endpoints and plain parameters, so a working call takes minutes. GDELT Project's strongest advantage: completely free, bulk files and BigQuery tables included.
How do GNews and GDELT Project differ in pricing?
GNews: monthly or yearly plans in euros, with paid access from €49.99/mo. GDELT Project: free, with paid access from Free. Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: GNews or GDELT Project?
Neither sells an enterprise contract. Neither carries licensed publisher content, so check copyright terms before republishing anything.
What are the main differences between GNews and GDELT Project?
What sets GNews apart: two simple endpoints with commercial rights from €49.99 a month. What sets GDELT Project apart: free global coverage with 15-minute updates and BigQuery access. They also differ on entry price (€49.99/mo vs Free) and typical uses (News & content apps, AI & LLM apps vs Research & academia, Risk & compliance).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.