# Hushread vs Ground News (2026): Sources vs Bias Ratings > Hushread vs Ground News compared: story grouping, bias labels, Blindspot, your own sources, algorithm, AI and confusing 2026 pricing, laid out honestly. Published by Hushread, 2026-10-12. Canonical: https://hushread.com/blog/hushread-vs-ground-news *Disclosure: Hushread is our app. We've tried to be fair, and we say where the others are the better choice.* Both apps group coverage of the same event from many outlets into one story. Ground News adds left, center and right labels, a Blindspot feed and ownership data, drawn from its own catalog. Hushread adds no labels, but it groups the sources you choose, including RSS feeds, websites, subreddits and YouTube channels, in chronological order. If media bias analysis is the point, pick Ground News. If you want your own outlets organized into stories, pick Hushread. ## Hushread vs Ground News at a glance Prices as of October 2026: | Feature | Hushread | Ground News | |---|---|---| | Main job | Follow your own sources, grouped into stories | Compare coverage by political lean | | Where sources come from | You add them: RSS, websites, topics, subreddits, YouTube, Facebook, or 2,500+ curated sources | Its catalog of "50,000+ sources"; you can suggest others, with no guarantee | | One story per event | Yes, with a day-by-day timeline, summary and chapters | Yes, with a left, center and right breakdown | | Bias and factuality labels | None | Per outlet: bias averaged from AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias Fact Check; factuality from Ad Fontes and MBFC | | Blindspot | No | Yes (limited on Free, unlimited on Vantage) | | Ownership data | No | Yes, on Vantage | | Feed order | Chronological, nothing injected | My Feed "algorithmically curated" from your reading | | What's big right now | Trending, ranked by distinct publishers per hour, with surge flags and a Local tab | Top Stories, the same for everyone in an edition | | AI | Two-sentence quick take inside articles you open | Summaries AI-written with human oversight | | Outside the US | Any outlet with a feed or website; Local tab for your country | One Belgian Reddit user found it US-centric | | Price | Free with 5 sources; Pro $1.25/mo billed yearly ($14.99/year) | Free; app tiers from $9.99/year; Vantage $99.99/year | Ground News sources: [subscribe page](https://ground.news/subscribe), [Vantage checkout](https://ground.news/checkout/vantage), [rating system](https://ground.news/rating-system), [FAQ](https://ground.news/frequently-asked-questions), [summaries](https://help.ground.news/en/articles/3189505), [suggesting sources](https://help.ground.news/en/articles/1750273), [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ground-news/id1324203419). The Blindspot limit on Free is as reported by [StationX](https://app.stationx.net/articles/ground-news-review). ## What each app is for Ground News is a media literacy tool first. You open a story and see which outlets covered it and where they sit on the spectrum. Its Blindspot feed shows stories one side barely covered; a left Blindspot, for example, has fewer than 10 left-leaning sources and at least 33% of its coverage from the right ([rating system](https://ground.news/rating-system)). ![Ground News's rating system page giving the Blindspot formula: a Blindspot for the Left needs fewer than 10 left-leaning sources and right-leaning coverage of at least 33%](/blog-img/hushread-vs-ground-news/rating-system.webp) *The Blindspot formula on Ground News's rating system page, as shown on 9 October 2026. Source: [ground.news](https://ground.news/rating-system)* Hushread is a news reader first. You choose the sources, and Hushread organizes what they publish: articles about the same event become one story, copies and rewrites collapse, and Trending measures how many distinct publishers are covering each story hour by hour. It has no opinion on any outlet's politics. The overlap is the grouping. The split is whether you want the app to rate the outlets, or to let you pick them. ## How the pricing compares Hushread has two plans. Free covers up to 5 sources with stories, Trending, AI quick takes, the audio briefing and narration included. Pro is $1.25 a month billed yearly for unlimited sources, push notifications for every feed and sentiment rules (regional pricing may differ). Ground News pricing is harder to follow. The web subscribe page shows a single plan, Vantage, at $8.33 a month billed annually, and its checkout page gives the total as $99.99 a year ([Vantage checkout](https://ground.news/checkout/vantage)). In the iOS app you'll also find Pro at $0.99 a month or $9.99 a year, Premium at $3.99 a month or $29.99, $39.99 or $49.99 a year, and Vantage at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year ([App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ground-news/id1324203419)). A Premium checkout at $39.99 a year loads on the web but isn't linked from the subscribe page ([Premium checkout](https://ground.news/checkout/premium)). StationX found that the 7-day trial renews at $99.99 ([StationX](https://app.stationx.net/articles/ground-news-review)). ![Ground News's web subscribe page offering one paid plan, Vantage at $8.33 a month billed annually, with no Pro or Premium tier listed](/blog-img/hushread-vs-ground-news/subscribe.webp) *The Vantage plan on Ground News's subscribe page, as shown to an address in India on 9 October 2026. Source: [ground.news](https://ground.news/subscribe)* ## Where Ground News wins **Bias analysis is the product.** If you want to know which side covered a story and which ignored it, Ground News does that and Hushread doesn't try. Labels, factuality scores, Blindspot and the My News Bias dashboard have no equivalent in Hushread. **Ownership data.** Vantage shows who owns the outlets. Hushread has nothing like it. **A huge catalog, zero setup.** Ground News draws on what it says are "50,000+ sources" without you choosing any. Hushread's story timelines only include what your sources and topics bring in, so on the free plan's five sources a timeline is narrower. **A cheaper entry tier, in the app.** Ground News Pro at $9.99 a year is less than Hushread Pro. We couldn't find a clear official list of what Pro includes, so check before you buy. **Size and track record.** It has 4.7 stars from about 48,000 ratings on the App Store and 4.6 on [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.checkitt), where it has over a million installs. Hushread is built by one developer and is much newer. Its grouping is automatic and occasionally splits one event into two stories. ## Where Hushread wins **You bring any source.** Ground News can't take arbitrary RSS feeds or websites; you can suggest an outlet, but Ground News "can't provide an exact timeframe for when or if" it will be added ([help center](https://help.ground.news/en/articles/1750273)). Hushread takes RSS and Atom feeds, websites without a feed, topics, subreddits, YouTube channels and Facebook pages, on every plan including Free. **It works wherever you live.** Because you choose the outlets, a reader in Belgium or India can follow local papers, and the Trending Local tab covers your country. On Ground News, a Belgian Reddit user said "unless you want to be informed on American politics, it's not worth it" ([Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/1qq9lmc/is_ground_news_worth_it_as_a_belgian/o2g5tgu/)). **Chronological, with nothing injected.** Ground News's subscribe page says "We don't use algorithms to shape what you see", while its FAQ says My Feed "is algorithmically curated based on stated and observed reading behaviors" ([FAQ](https://ground.news/frequently-asked-questions)). In Hushread, everything you follow arrives in order. ![The FAQ on Ground News's subscribe page, where the answer to "What makes Ground News different?" reads "We don't use algorithms to shape what you see"](/blog-img/hushread-vs-ground-news/subscribe-faq.webp) *The FAQ section of Ground News's subscribe page, as shown on 9 October 2026. Source: [ground.news](https://ground.news/subscribe)* **Day-by-day timelines.** "See whole story" lays out every outlet's coverage day by day with a summary of how it developed, and long stories chain into chapters. You can browse live examples on [our stories page](/stories). **Less AI in your feed.** Ground News summaries are AI-written with human oversight, and one App Store reviewer noted in September 2026 that "Generative AI, has now been implemented into the app." Hushread keeps your feed to the original headlines and shows a two-sentence quick take inside an article when you open it. **Simple, low price.** $1.25 a month billed yearly ($14.99 a year) covers everything, compared with $99.99 a year for Vantage. The free plan doesn't expire. **Reader tools.** Keyword rules to mute, mark read or notify, natural-voice narration, folders, tags, bookmarks and full search of everything you've seen. One thing neither app fixes: paywalls. An App Store reviewer complained that Ground News "aggregates links which require further payment." Hushread doesn't get around paywalls either, but since you choose the sources, you can follow outlets you can actually read. ## Switching in 5 minutes 1. **Note the outlets you open most** in Ground News. Most people have five or ten. 2. **Install Hushread** on iOS or Android, or open [app.hushread.com](https://app.hushread.com). Add those outlets from the 2,500+ curated sources, or paste a site's link. On Free you can follow five; Pro is unlimited. 3. **Build your own balance.** Hushread won't label outlets, so if you valued seeing several sides, deliberately follow outlets from across the spectrum. You only need to think about lean once, when you pick sources, rather than on every story. 4. **Open Trending and the Local tab** to see which stories from your sources are surging, and the News section for the day's top global stories and a one-minute audio briefing. 5. **Sort out your Ground News subscription.** If you're on a trial, check how you subscribed and cancel there before it renews. One reviewer said there's no option to cancel from within the app. ## Verdict by reader type - **You follow US politics and want to see who covers what:** Ground News. - **Blindspot or ownership data is why you use it:** Ground News, and it's worth paying for. - **You live outside the US:** Hushread, because you can follow your own country's outlets. - **You liked the grouping more than the labels:** Hushread, or compare [Ground News alternatives](/blog/ground-news-alternatives) including Particle and Google News Full Coverage. - **You follow blogs, subreddits or YouTube channels alongside news:** Hushread. - **You want grouped stories with no setup and don't mind the app choosing outlets:** Particle may suit you better than either; see our [Particle alternatives](/blog/particle-news-app-alternatives) post. For how Hushread compares with the free default most people start from, see [Hushread vs Google News](/blog/hushread-vs-google-news). ## FAQ ### Does Hushread show media bias ratings? No. Hushread has no bias or factuality labels and no Blindspot feed. It groups coverage from the outlets you choose, so the balance of your feed is up to you. ### Is Ground News cheaper than Hushread? It depends on the tier. Ground News Pro in the iOS app is $9.99 a year, less than Hushread Pro at $14.99. Vantage, the plan the website sells, is $99.99 a year. Both apps have a free plan. ### Can I add my own sources to Ground News? Not directly. You can suggest a source, and Ground News says there's no guarantee it will be added. Hushread lets you add any RSS feed or website yourself. ### Can I use Hushread and Ground News together? Yes, and it's a reasonable setup: Hushread as the daily feed of your own sources, and Ground News when you want to check how a particular story is being covered across the spectrum. If you came to Ground News for the grouping and stayed despite the labels, Hushread gives you the grouping with your own outlets. Hushread is free with up to 5 sources on iOS, Android and the web. [Try Hushread](https://hushread.com/#download).