GNews vs Mediastack: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
GNews (4.1/5) edges ahead of Mediastack (3.8/5) overall. GNews is the better choice for indie developers needing affordable commercial news access. Mediastack is the stronger option for hobby projects and low-volume apps on a tight budget. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
GNews vs Mediastack: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | GNews | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | Not disclosed | 2015 |
| HQ | Not publicly disclosed | Vienna, Austria (apilayer); owned by Idera |
| Team size | Not publicly disclosed | Part of Idera |
| Rating | 4.1 / 5 | 3.8 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Two simple endpoints with commercial rights from €49.99 a month | Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data |
| Pricing model | Monthly or yearly plans in euros | Monthly request plans |
| Entry price | €49.99/mo | $24.99/mo |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON | REST API, JSON |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, AI & LLM apps, Marketing & PR | News & content apps, Marketing & PR |
GNews vs Mediastack: 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.
Mediastack
Mediastack is one of the apilayer products, alongside ipstack and weatherstack. apilayer was founded in Vienna in 2015 by Julian and Paul Zehetmayr and acquired by the US software group Idera in January 2021. The API aggregates live and historical news from 7,500+ sources in 13 languages, filtered by country, category, language and keyword. The free plan allows 100 requests a month, and paid plans run from $24.99 for 10,000 requests to $249.99 for 250,000. Its source list is far smaller than the big crawlers here, and it adds no enrichment beyond basic metadata.
Features: GNews vs Mediastack
| Capability | GNews | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✓ | ✗ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Licensed publisher content | ✗ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: GNews vs Mediastack
| Format / SDK | GNews | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | N/A |
Pricing comparison: GNews vs Mediastack
| Criterion | GNews | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | €49.99/mo | $24.99/mo |
| Pricing model | Monthly or yearly plans in euros | Monthly request plans |
| Access models | Free tier, Monthly plans | Free tier, Monthly plans |
| Price transparency | Public price | Public price |
| Price tier | Budget | Budget |
Who each API suits: GNews vs Mediastack
| Dimension | GNews | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, AI & LLM apps, Marketing & PR | News & content apps, Marketing & PR |
| Example use cases | A news widget or digest in a consumer app. A small SaaS feature that pulls headlines by country. | A news ticker or category feed for a small website. A learning project that needs commercial rights cheaply. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
GNews vs Mediastack: 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 |
| Mediastack | |
|---|---|
| + | One of the cheapest paid entries among general news APIs, at $24.99 a month |
| + | Same conventions as other apilayer APIs, which helps if you already use one |
| + | Historical news included on paid plans |
| + | Short docs with copy-paste examples |
| - | Only 7,500 sources and 13 languages |
| - | The free plan is 100 requests a month, which runs out in a day of testing |
| - | Descriptions only, with no full text, sentiment or entities |
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 Mediastack?
A typical fit: a news ticker or category feed for a small website.
Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. Paid access starts at $24.99/mo. Typical uses: News & content apps, Marketing & PR.
Decision matrix: GNews vs Mediastack
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | Mediastack |
| 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 Mediastack
| Use case | GNews fit | Mediastack fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & content apps | Strong | Strong | Both equally |
| AI & LLM apps | Strong | Limited | GNews |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Strong | Both equally |
Verdict: GNews vs Mediastack
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.
Mediastack (3.8/5) is worth a look if you need a learning project that needs commercial rights cheaply. If your situation matches that, Mediastack is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
GNews vs Mediastack FAQ
Is GNews better than Mediastack?
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. Mediastack's strongest advantage: one of the cheapest paid entries among general news APIs, at $24.99 a month.
How do GNews and Mediastack differ in pricing?
GNews: monthly or yearly plans in euros, with paid access from €49.99/mo. Mediastack: monthly request plans, with paid access from $24.99/mo. Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: GNews or Mediastack?
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 Mediastack?
What sets GNews apart: two simple endpoints with commercial rights from €49.99 a month. What sets Mediastack apart: paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. They also differ on entry price (€49.99/mo vs $24.99/mo) and typical uses (News & content apps, AI & LLM apps vs News & content apps, Marketing & PR).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.