Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
Mediastack (3.8/5) edges ahead of TheNewsAPI (3.6/5) overall. Mediastack is the better choice for hobby projects and low-volume apps on a tight budget. TheNewsAPI is the stronger option for personal projects that need a cheap general feed. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | Mediastack | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 | Not disclosed |
| HQ | Vienna, Austria (apilayer); owned by Idera | Not publicly disclosed |
| Team size | Part of Idera | Not publicly disclosed |
| Rating | 3.8 / 5 | 3.6 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data | Possibly the cheapest paid tier among general news APIs, if third-party pricing is current |
| Pricing model | Monthly request plans | Monthly plans |
| Entry price | $24.99/mo | $9/mo (third-party listing) |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON | REST API, JSON |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR | News & content apps |
Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI: 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.
TheNewsAPI
TheNewsAPI offers headline, top-story and all-news endpoints with filters for language, locale, category and domain. Its FAQ says the free plan needs no payment details and counts each search as one request against a limit of 100 a day, though free responses are capped at three articles each. One comparison site lists a paid Basic tier from $9 a month (independently unverifiable). The site does not identify the company behind it, its location or its team.
Features: Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI
| Capability | Mediastack | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✗ | ✗ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Licensed publisher content | ✗ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI
| Format / SDK | Mediastack | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| 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 TheNewsAPI
| Criterion | Mediastack | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $24.99/mo | $9/mo (third-party listing) |
| Pricing model | Monthly request plans | Monthly 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: Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI
| Dimension | Mediastack | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR | News & content apps |
| Example use cases | A news ticker or category feed for a small website. A learning project that needs commercial rights cheaply. | A personal news dashboard. A curated feed from a handful of domains. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI: 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 |
| TheNewsAPI | |
|---|---|
| + | No card needed to start |
| + | Domain and locale filters help with curated feeds |
| + | A low reported entry price |
| - | The free plan caps each response at three articles |
| - | Anonymous operator and unverified coverage claims |
| - | No published details on enrichment or archive depth |
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 TheNewsAPI?
A typical fit: a personal news dashboard.
Possibly the cheapest paid tier among general news APIs, if third-party pricing is current. Paid access starts at $9/mo (third-party listing). Typical uses: News & content apps.
Decision matrix: Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | TheNewsAPI |
| You need full article text in the response | Neither returns full text |
| 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 TheNewsAPI
| Use case | Mediastack fit | TheNewsAPI fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & content apps | Strong | Strong | Both equally |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Limited | Mediastack |
Verdict: Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI
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.
TheNewsAPI (3.6/5) is worth a look if you need a curated feed from a handful of domains. If your situation matches that, TheNewsAPI is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
Mediastack vs TheNewsAPI FAQ
Is Mediastack better than TheNewsAPI?
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. TheNewsAPI's strongest advantage: no card needed to start.
How do Mediastack and TheNewsAPI differ in pricing?
Mediastack: monthly request plans, with paid access from $24.99/mo. TheNewsAPI: monthly plans, with paid access from $9/mo (third-party listing). Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: Mediastack or TheNewsAPI?
Neither sells an enterprise contract. Neither carries licensed publisher content, so check copyright terms before republishing anything.
What are the main differences between Mediastack and TheNewsAPI?
What sets Mediastack apart: paid plans from $24.99 with commercial use and historical data. What sets TheNewsAPI apart: possibly the cheapest paid tier among general news APIs, if third-party pricing is current. They also differ on entry price ($24.99/mo vs $9/mo (third-party listing)) and typical uses (News & content apps, Marketing & PR vs News & content apps).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.