GNews vs Mediastack: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
GNews (4.3/5) edges ahead of Mediastack (3.8/5) overall. GNews is the better choice for small commercial apps needing a cheap, simple news feed. Mediastack is the stronger option for low-traffic sites needing a cheap commercial headline feed. 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 | 4.3 / 5 | 3.8 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Commercial rights and full article content for under €50 a month | Commercial use and historical news from $24.99 a month |
| 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 keeps its surface small: one search endpoint, one top-headlines endpoint, and filters for country, language and category. That small surface is why developers like it, because the docs fit on one page and a working call takes a few minutes. The free tier allows 100 requests a day for non-commercial work with 30 days of history. Essential, at €49.99 a month, adds commercial rights, 1,000 requests a day and articles back to 2020, while Business and Enterprise raise the daily quota to 5,000 and 25,000. The weak spot is the company itself. The site credits a studio called Gigathink and gives only a contact email, so its size, founding year and support capacity are unknown.
Mediastack
Mediastack belongs to apilayer, the Vienna company behind ipstack and weatherstack, which Julian and Paul Zehetmayr founded in 2015 and the US software group Idera bought in January 2021. If you already use another apilayer API, the key format, parameters and error codes will look familiar. It covers live and historical news from 7,500+ sources in 13 languages, with filters for country, category, language and keyword. The free plan gives 100 requests a month, which a day of testing can use up, and paid plans run from $24.99 for 10,000 requests to $249.99 for 250,000. Responses carry descriptions and metadata, without full text or enrichment.
Features: GNews vs Mediastack
| Capability | GNews | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✓ | ✗ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Official SDK | ✗ | ✗ |
| 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 section in a small SaaS product. Headline widgets filtered by country. | A category news feed on a small website. Classroom projects that need commercial terms. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
GNews vs Mediastack: pros and cons
| GNews | |
|---|---|
| + | The whole API can be learned in one sitting |
| + | One of the cheapest routes to commercial use, and yearly billing takes about 20% off |
| + | Paid plans return full article content |
| + | Up to 100 articles per request on the top tier |
| - | Nothing before 2020 |
| - | No entity, sentiment or clustering fields |
| - | An unnamed operator makes support and continuity hard to judge |
| Mediastack | |
|---|---|
| + | Among the lowest paid entry prices for general news |
| + | Shares conventions with the other apilayer APIs |
| + | History included on paid plans |
| + | Short docs with copy-paste code |
| - | 100 free requests a month barely covers testing |
| - | Only 7,500 sources in 13 languages |
| - | No full text, entities or sentiment |
Who should choose GNews?
A typical fit: a news section in a small SaaS product.
Commercial rights and full article content for under €50 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 category news feed on a small website.
Commercial use and historical news from $24.99 a month. 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 want an official SDK | Neither; both are plain REST |
| 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 (4.3/5) is the stronger overall choice as a news data source. Commercial rights and full article content for under €50 a month.
Mediastack (3.8/5) is worth a look if you need classroom projects that need commercial terms. If your situation matches that, Mediastack is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
GNews vs Mediastack FAQ
Is GNews better than Mediastack?
GNews (4.3/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. GNews's strongest advantage: the whole API can be learned in one sitting. Mediastack's strongest advantage: among the lowest paid entry prices for general news.
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: commercial rights and full article content for under €50 a month. What sets Mediastack apart: commercial use and historical news from $24.99 a month. 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.