Ground News Review: What It Does Well and Where It Falls Short
Ground News is the best app for seeing how a story is covered across the political spectrum: it groups articles from many outlets and labels each with ratings averaged from three independent raters. Its limits are the price of its best features, which sit in the paid Vantage plan, and its article-only format. If you want a short video feed from vetted newsrooms instead, Aplomb is the alternative.
Disclosure: we make Aplomb, one of the apps on this page. We apply the same criteria to it as to every other app, we don't rank it first by default, and we never give it a score. Read our editorial policy.
On this page
Ground News App: What It Is and How It Works
Ground News, made by Snapwise Inc., is a news aggregator for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and the web. It groups articles about the same story from many outlets and shows how that coverage splits between left, center and right-leaning sources, so you can see at a glance which side is covering a story and which is not.
How Ground News Rates Bias
Ground News does not rate outlets itself. Its bias rating for each outlet is the average of three independent raters, AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check, and its factuality score averages Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check. Ratings apply to the outlet, not to individual articles. Its Blindspot feed highlights stories covered mostly by one side. To see how those raters score individual outlets, use our media bias chart.
What Ground News Does Well
- Shows the left, center and right split of coverage for every story.
- Relies on three independent raters instead of its own judgment, and explains how it averages them.
- Adds context most aggregators skip: Blindspot stories, outlet ownership and a dashboard of your own reading bias.
Where Ground News Falls Short
- Its most distinctive features (Blindspot analysis, full coverage comparison, ownership data) are listed in the paid Vantage plan.
- Pricing is hard to follow: the website sells one plan, while the App Store lists several overlapping plans and price points.
- Ratings describe whole outlets, so a fair article from a left-leaning outlet still counts as left.
- It is built for reading articles; there is no video feed.
Ground News Pricing
| Plan | Price (US App Store) | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Story feed with coverage across outlets; the full feature split is not detailed on the website |
| Pro | $0.99 a month or $9.99 a year | Not detailed on Ground News's website |
| Premium | $3.99 a month, or $29.99 to $49.99 a year depending on the offer | Not detailed on Ground News's website |
| Vantage | $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year (the only plan sold on the website) | Blindspot analysis, global coverage map, unlimited saved stories, full coverage comparison, ownership and funding data, bias and factuality ratings, My News Bias dashboard |
Ground News Alternative: Aplomb for Short Video News
Ground News is built for reading and comparing articles. Aplomb is built for watching: a vertical video feed of official videos from vetted newsrooms, where every story names the outlet and links to its website. The day's main stories also come with a short AI summary, written only from the articles of the newsrooms covering them, with a link to each. It does not compare coverage story by story the way Ground News does.
Choose Ground News to compare coverage across the spectrum. Choose Aplomb if you want a fast, curated video feed from vetted news sources, or watch today's news videos in your browser first.
Prefer short videos to articles? Try the vertical news feed.
More News App Comparisons
Ground News FAQ
Is Ground News worth it?
The free version is enough to see coverage of a story from many outlets. A paid plan is worth it if you want Blindspot analysis, ownership data and the full coverage comparison, which Ground News lists in its Vantage plan ($99.99 a year in the US).
Where does Ground News get its bias ratings?
Ground News averages the outlet ratings of three independent raters: AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check. Its factuality scores average Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check. You can compare those raters on our media bias chart.
What is a good Ground News alternative?
AllSides is the closest free alternative: it shows left, center and right headlines side by side. If you prefer a short video feed limited to vetted newsrooms, Aplomb is the alternative. See all options in the best unbiased news apps.
Is Ground News free?
Yes, the app is free to download and use, with paid plans on top. In the US App Store they range from Pro at $9.99 a year to Vantage at $99.99 a year.
