Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
Mediastack (3.8/5) edges ahead of Guardian Open Platform (3.8/5) overall. Mediastack is the better choice for hobby projects and low-volume apps on a tight budget. Guardian Open Platform is the stronger option for Students, researchers and non-commercial apps. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | Mediastack | Guardian Open Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 | 1821 |
| HQ | Vienna, Austria (apilayer); owned by Idera | London, UK |
| Team size | Part of Idera | 1,000+ (Guardian Media Group) |
| Rating | 3.8 / 5 | 3.8 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data | Free full article text with editorial tags from a major publisher |
| Pricing model | Monthly request plans | Free developer key; commercial licence on request |
| Entry price | $24.99/mo | Free |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON | REST API, JSON |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR | Research & academia, News & content apps, AI & LLM apps |
Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform: overview
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.
Guardian Open Platform
The Guardian's Open Platform gives developers the same content API that runs the Guardian's own sites, with full article bodies, tags and sections going back to 1999. A free developer key is commonly reported at about 5,000 calls a day and 12 calls a second, and it is meant for non-commercial projects. Commercial use needs a separate agreement with Guardian News & Media. Clean, consistent tagging has made it a favourite for teaching and research, though you only ever get one publisher.
Features: Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform
| Capability | Mediastack | Guardian Open Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✗ | ✓ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Licensed publisher content | ✗ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform
| Format / SDK | Mediastack | Guardian Open Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 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: Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform
| Criterion | Mediastack | Guardian Open Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $24.99/mo | Free |
| Pricing model | Monthly request plans | Free developer key; commercial licence on request |
| Access models | Free tier, Monthly plans | Free tier, Enterprise contract |
| Price transparency | Public price | Public price |
| Price tier | Budget | Free |
Who each API suits: Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform
| Dimension | Mediastack | Guardian Open Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR | Research & academia, News & content apps, AI & LLM apps |
| Example use cases | A news ticker or category feed for a small website. A learning project that needs commercial rights cheaply. | Teaching data journalism or NLP with real articles. Research on UK and international coverage over time. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform: pros and cons
| 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 |
| Guardian Open Platform | |
|---|---|
| + | Full article bodies at no cost, which is unusual for a major newspaper |
| + | Consistent tags and sections make filtering easy |
| + | An archive going back to 1999 |
| + | A stable, well-documented API that the Guardian uses itself |
| - | Single publisher, so coverage reflects one editorial line |
| - | Commercial use requires negotiating a licence |
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.
Who should choose Guardian Open Platform?
A typical fit: teaching data journalism or NLP with real articles.
Free full article text with editorial tags from a major publisher. Paid access starts at Free. Typical uses: Research & academia, News & content apps, AI & LLM apps.
Decision matrix: Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | Guardian Open Platform |
| You need full article text in the response | Guardian Open Platform |
| 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: Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform
| Use case | Mediastack fit | Guardian Open Platform fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & content apps | Strong | Strong | Both equally |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Limited | Mediastack |
| Research & academia | Limited | Strong | Guardian Open Platform |
| AI & LLM apps | Limited | Strong | Guardian Open Platform |
Verdict: Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform
Mediastack (3.8/5) is the stronger overall choice as a news data source. Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data.
Guardian Open Platform (3.8/5) is worth a look if you need research on UK and international coverage over time. If your situation matches that, Guardian Open Platform is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
Mediastack vs Guardian Open Platform FAQ
Is Mediastack better than Guardian Open Platform?
Mediastack (3.8/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. Mediastack's strongest advantage: one of the cheapest paid entries among general news APIs, at $24.99 a month. Guardian Open Platform's strongest advantage: full article bodies at no cost, which is unusual for a major newspaper.
How do Mediastack and Guardian Open Platform differ in pricing?
Mediastack: monthly request plans, with paid access from $24.99/mo. Guardian Open Platform: free developer key; commercial licence on request, with paid access from Free. Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: Mediastack or Guardian Open Platform?
Guardian Open Platform sells enterprise contracts with negotiated volume and SLA terms. Neither carries licensed publisher content, so check copyright terms before republishing anything.
What are the main differences between Mediastack and Guardian Open Platform?
What sets Mediastack apart: paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. What sets Guardian Open Platform apart: free full article text with editorial tags from a major publisher. They also differ on entry price ($24.99/mo vs Free) and typical uses (News & content apps, Marketing & PR vs Research & academia, News & content apps).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.