Webz.io vs Mediastack: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
Webz.io (4.2/5) edges ahead of Mediastack (3.8/5) overall. Webz.io is the better choice for data engineers backfilling years of news for datasets. 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.
Webz.io vs Mediastack: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | Webz.io | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 | 2015 |
| HQ | Tel Aviv area, Israel | Vienna, Austria (apilayer); owned by Idera |
| Team size | 51–200 | Part of Idera |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 3.8 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | History back to 2008 and the widest claimed source count here | Commercial use and historical news from $24.99 a month |
| Pricing model | Usage-based credits; pay-as-you-go or subscription | Monthly request plans |
| Entry price | Pay-as-you-go | $24.99/mo |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON, Python SDK | REST API, JSON |
| Typical uses | Risk & compliance, Media monitoring, AI & LLM apps, Research & academia | News & content apps, Marketing & PR |
Webz.io vs Mediastack: overview
Webz.io
Webz.io was founded in 2014 as Webhose.io and is run from the Tel Aviv area by co-founder and CEO Ran Geva. Its News API claims 3.5 million new articles a day from 350,000+ sources in 170+ languages (per company website; independently unverifiable), and the same token can query blogs, forums, reviews and dark-web feeds. For developers it is powerful but not quick to learn: queries use a field syntax (title:, language:, sentiment:) and anything older than 30 days goes through a separate archive endpoint that reaches 2008. Each account gets $5 of free credit a month and SDKs for Python, Node and Java. The default rate limit of one request per second is the thing to plan around.
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: Webz.io vs Mediastack
| Capability | Webz.io | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✓ | ✗ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✓ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Official SDK | ✓ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: Webz.io vs Mediastack
| Format / SDK | Webz.io | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Python SDK | ✓ | N/A |
| Node.js SDK | ✓ | N/A |
| Webhooks | N/A | N/A |
| WebSocket | N/A | N/A |
| MCP server | N/A | N/A |
| S3/bulk delivery | ✓ | N/A |
| BigQuery | N/A | N/A |
Pricing comparison: Webz.io vs Mediastack
| Criterion | Webz.io | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Pay-as-you-go | $24.99/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based credits; pay-as-you-go or subscription | Monthly request plans |
| Access models | Free tier, Pay-as-you-go, Enterprise contract | Free tier, Monthly plans |
| Price transparency | Public price | Public price |
| Price tier | Budget | Budget |
Who each API suits: Webz.io vs Mediastack
| Dimension | Webz.io | Mediastack |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | Risk & compliance, Media monitoring, AI & LLM apps | News & content apps, Marketing & PR |
| Example use cases | Building a training or evaluation dataset from a decade of news. Threat feeds that combine news with forum chatter. | A category news feed on a small website. Classroom projects that need commercial terms. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
Webz.io vs Mediastack: pros and cons
| Webz.io | |
|---|---|
| + | The longest web-crawled archive among the commercial APIs here |
| + | $5 of monthly credit lets you run real queries with no card |
| + | Satire, bias and fake-news flags on articles make filtering easier |
| + | One account also covers forums, reviews and blogs |
| - | One request per second by default slows bulk jobs unless you negotiate more |
| - | The field syntax takes time to learn |
| - | Large contracts are expensive, with Vendr reporting a median annual spend near $237,500 |
| 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 Webz.io?
A typical fit: building a training or evaluation dataset from a decade of news.
History back to 2008 and the widest claimed source count here. Paid access starts at Pay-as-you-go. Typical uses: Risk & compliance, Media monitoring, AI & LLM apps, Research & academia.
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: Webz.io vs Mediastack
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | Webz.io |
| You need full article text in the response | Webz.io |
| You need years of historical news | Both |
| You want an official SDK | Webz.io |
| You are wiring news into an LLM agent | Both work through plain REST calls |
Use case fit: Webz.io vs Mediastack
| Use case | Webz.io fit | Mediastack fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Risk & compliance | Strong | Limited | Webz.io |
| Media monitoring | Strong | Limited | Webz.io |
| AI & LLM apps | Strong | Limited | Webz.io |
| Research & academia | Strong | Limited | Webz.io |
| News & content apps | Limited | Strong | Mediastack |
| Marketing & PR | Limited | Strong | Mediastack |
Verdict: Webz.io vs Mediastack
Webz.io (4.2/5) is the stronger overall choice as a news data source. History back to 2008 and the widest claimed source count here.
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
Webz.io vs Mediastack FAQ
Is Webz.io better than Mediastack?
Webz.io (4.2/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. Webz.io's strongest advantage: the longest web-crawled archive among the commercial APIs here. Mediastack's strongest advantage: among the lowest paid entry prices for general news.
How do Webz.io and Mediastack differ in pricing?
Webz.io: usage-based credits; pay-as-you-go or subscription, with paid access from Pay-as-you-go. Mediastack: monthly request plans, with paid access from $24.99/mo. Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: Webz.io or Mediastack?
Webz.io 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 Webz.io and Mediastack?
What sets Webz.io apart: history back to 2008 and the widest claimed source count here. What sets Mediastack apart: commercial use and historical news from $24.99 a month. They also differ on entry price (Pay-as-you-go vs $24.99/mo) and typical uses (Risk & compliance, Media monitoring vs News & content apps, Marketing & PR).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.