Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
User consensusAlternativesIs it worth it?
The verdict on

MarketWatch

45
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

MarketWatch provides timely financial news and market data, but recent updates have introduced numerous bugs, subscription issues, and a perceived political bias in its reporting, leading to a decline in user satisfaction.

4.7★ lifetime (236,159) Free + in-app purchases since 2009 by Dow Jones & Company, Inc., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. updated 3.5 mo ago recent negative 54% 120 reviews across 4 regions
App Stability & Bugs Subscription & Paywall Political Bias User Experience & Features Content Quality & Timeliness
5★227
4★67
3★46
2★38
1★368
recent reviews across 4 regions, vs the 4.7★ lifetime average

MarketWatch offers financial news, stock charts, and market data, with some users appreciating its timely information and feature stories. However, recent reviews highlight significant problems with app stability, subscription management, and a pervasive paywall that limits access to content, even for subscribers.

What users like

  • Provides reliable and timely financial information for trading and market understandingR12R39R87R110
  • Offers good feature stories and insightful commentaryR6R7R80
  • Useful for tracking stocks and viewing market dataR8R10R102R608

What users complain about

  • Frequent bugs and glitches, including freezing, login issues, and broken features like watchlists and comment linksR16R17R20R25
  • Subscription issues, including false advertising of prices, unauthorized charges, and inability to access paid content on the appR5R11R17R57
  • Perceived political bias in news reporting, particularly against specific political figures and partiesR3R46R65R66
  • Excessive paywalls limit access to articles, even for subscribers, and make the app less useful than free alternativesR15R23R27R28
  • Lack of essential features like Dark Mode, article saving, and improved watchlist functionalityR7R58R127R140
  • Poor user interface and experience, with navigation difficulties, small unadjustable fonts, and slow performanceR13R21R34R44
  • Inability to access MarketWatch games or certain content (like Barrons articles) through the appR170R460R471R609

Latest update · v7.14.1

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

Thanks for using MarketWatch - News & Data! This version includes bug fixes and minor changes.

Recurring themes

App Stability & Bugs negative
Many users report frequent bugs, glitches, freezing, and login problems. Issues include watchlists being deleted or not working, comments links being unclickable, and articles failing to open. The app's performance is often described as buggy and slow.R16R17R20R25
Subscription & Paywall negative
A significant number of reviews complain about misleading subscription pricing, unauthorized charges, and difficulty accessing content even after paying. Users feel there are too many paywalls, limiting access to articles they expect to be free or included in their subscription.R11R15R17R23
Political Bias negative
Many users express strong dissatisfaction with what they perceive as a consistent left-leaning or anti-Republican political bias in the app's news and article headlines. This bias is cited as a reason for canceling subscriptions or deleting the app.R3R46R47R62
User Experience & Features negative
Reviewers frequently criticize the app's user interface for being complicated, clunky, and not user-friendly. Common complaints include the lack of a Dark Mode, inability to save articles, small unadjustable font sizes, and poor navigation, especially on newer iPhones.R7R13R21R34
Content Quality & Timeliness mixed
While some users praise the app for reliable, timely information and good feature stories, others find the news slow, not worth the fee, or filled with 'engagement bait' rather than useful information.R6R7R12R24

Who it's for

This app is for users who prioritize timely financial news and market data, particularly those who appreciate feature stories and insightful commentary R6R12R39. It might appeal to those who don't mind navigating a potentially buggy interface and are willing to pay for content, despite the paywall complaints . Users who are sensitive to perceived political bias in news reporting or require a highly stable, feature-rich app with dark mode should skip it R3R7R20R66.

Evidence note: The recent reviews skew heavily negative, contradicting the lifetime store rating. Many complaints about bugs and subscription issues are consistent across multiple users, suggesting widespread problems. The developer's notes mention 'bug fixes' but recent reviews indicate these issues persist or new ones have arisen.

Frequently asked

Does MarketWatch offer a free version or free articles?
MarketWatch offers some free content, but many users report hitting a paywall quickly, even on articles linked from notifications, and feel there are too few free articles available R23R27R28R41.
Are there issues with MarketWatch subscriptions?
Yes, many users report significant subscription issues, including being charged higher prices than advertised (e.g., $19.99 instead of $3.99/month), unauthorized charges, difficulty restoring subscriptions, and inability to access paid content on the app even with an active subscription R5R11R17R57.
Does the MarketWatch app have a Dark Mode?
No, the MarketWatch app does not currently offer a Dark Mode, which is a common complaint among users R7R140R465.
Can I access MarketWatch games through the app?
No, several users report that they cannot access MarketWatch Games or the virtual exchange feature through the app, only through the website or PC R460R471R607R609.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R12] 5/5 · US Reliable information: I can always count on the MarketWatch to get my reliable information to plan my trading day!
  2. [R39] 5/5 · US Fascinating Market News 🗞️: I really like the quick notifications and small summaries on market data and financial movements
  3. [R87] 5/5 · US Market Watch: Market Watch is vital because they are always on top of things. If you want to know what’s happening in the market, Market Watch is the ticket!
  4. [R110] 5/5 · US Timely reporting: I always found MarketWatch to have reports to be right on time with soon to be current events.
  5. [R6] 5/5 · US Market watch is good reading: App has some great feature stories that are enjoyable to read
  6. [R7] 3/5 · US Decent: I generally like the app. Most articles are written well. Some are useful. I find them much better than others. My main complaint is that the app doesn’t allow for a Dark Mode. In this day and age, not having a Dark Mode is surprising.
  7. [R80] 5/5 · US .: Insightful commentary.
  8. [R8] 5/5 · US IH: Stock chart
  9. [R10] 5/5 · US stock: property
  10. [R102] 4/5 · US Pay up sucker: From my experience I get a headline and go to read it and I have to pay to read it… I still use it to check the market and get an idea on analyst ideas for equities to buy/sell
  11. [R608] 3/5 · CA Nice app for stocks tracking but could be more stable: This app has nice interface and news, but if it is faster and more stable with WatchList I would give 5 stars !
  12. [R16] 1/5 · US Bug: Since the last update, ca no longer click on the Comments link on iOS devices, either iPhone or iPad.
  13. [R17] 1/5 · US Nothing but problems: I signed up and have nothing but problems. Used google to open my account. Paid for the market watch/barrons subscription. Tried opening article.. they won’t open. Tried to set my watch list won’t work. Tried to email customer service recieved an error message! I have screen shots… I want a refund!
  14. [R20] 1/5 · US BUGGY!: It’s literally one of the most annoying and poorly written apps I’ve run across. If they fired everyone in their IT department, that would be a good start.
  15. [R25] 2/5 · US This app and web site will lock you out…: Despite being a subscriber, keep getting locked out and must sign back in…
  16. [R5] 3/5 · US Subscription doesn’t work on IPhone App: After paying for a subscription, the app always wants you to login with the user ID and password. Doesn’t seem to work well on an iPhone.
  17. [R11] 1/5 · US False Advertising: I subscribed to MarketWatch under the pretense that I would be charged $3.99/month for the first 12 months of my subscription and then subsequently charged $19.99/month following the 12 month period. I resubscribed and was charged $19.99 and there is no customer service or information provided. This behavior is predatory and false advertising.
  18. [R57] 1/5 · US STOLE MY MONEY: Hmm.. got charged days before my free trial ended . LAWSUIT COMING . My account is negative because of you all !
  19. [R3] 1/5 · US Poor journalism: Always always has a negative lean against Trump and Republicans and their economy. There’s a way you can print the news then there’s a way you can slant it and these people do it constantly to the left. They suck. It’s no secret that Rupert Murdoch and Trump have issues with each other. The same thing is existing with Bloomberg News. I’m 81 years old and where I’ve watched this co
  20. [R46] 1/5 · US Canceling: Canceling my subscription due to the one sided-all things against Trump articles MarketWatch consistently writes. Seeing everything always getting spun to the negative gets old. Bye
  21. [R65] 1/5 · US Political driven app: All pushed articles are political driven and not fact based. Article titles are not remotely resembling the actual reported story. They push the political articles every few minutes. If you are worried about your funds don’t trust this app, go with a factual non-biased app.
  22. [R66] 1/5 · US Left Wing!: Beware! There’s a major leftist bias on this app. Even when the market is doing great, the marxists running this app still take cheap shots at Republicans and President Trump. I was trying to give them a chance but I finally accepted the truth: this app is FAKE NEWS! I deleted this garbage!
  23. [R15] 1/5 · US I Hate the Wall Street Journal: Totally communist editorial and non-business news. Also, they tease you with part of an article then ask you to pay an exorbitant fee for a subscription. Are you kidding me?
  24. [R23] 1/5 · US Why charge for reading??: Plenty of sources to go to for the same information for free
  25. [R27] 1/5 · US Cost: They now want to charge you to read just about any articles
  26. [R28] 1/5 · US Every news item cost money: There is nothing to read here except the front page. Marketwatch does not understand that stock market news and opinion are free of charge elsewhere, like MS Edge news collections.
  27. [R58] 3/5 · US Save option: I love market watch I just wish in the app you could save articles.
  28. [R127] 3/5 · US Made worse?: I pay as a subscriber. Former versions would retain the default of the ONLY watch list that I have. Now I have to always go to the menu to pick it from the list of one otherwise it shows nothing. Nowhere can I find where to set defaults. If it is there somewhere please tell me. Former versions would notice what time it was and pick "futures" or "US" accurately dependent on the time
  29. [R140] 3/5 · US Desperately need dark mode: My eyes are getting blind
  30. [R13] 1/5 · US Complicada de usar: Complicada de Usar
  31. [R21] 1/5 · US Hard to read: Font is too small with no way too increase within the app. Cnbc and bloomberg all have way mire functionality
  32. [R34] 1/5 · US Limited features and finicky: So many other apps have lots of features. This one is very limited. Every time I try to log on, it is forgetting my password. It’s a joke.
  33. [R44] 1/5 · US Glitchy site: Very complex very difficult to use this site not very user-friendly and I am very experienced with using websites, etc.
  34. [R170] 3/5 · US Limited access on app compared to web: I have an active marketwatch subscription and I’m able to access everything on the website. This app, however, doesn’t let me access Barrons articles and instead asks to get a separate Barrons subscription.
  35. [R460] 3/5 · CA where are the games?: i downloaded for convenience because of my business class, but i cant seem to find my game on the app. help.
  36. [R471] 3/5 · CA Cannot access Market Watch Games via your App: Unfortunately I can’t access Market Watch Games via your App (only through your PC)
  37. [R609] 3/5 · CA Need the game: They need to add the marketwatch game feature to the all
  38. [R47] 1/5 · US Disappointing: Mostly opinion/fake news
  39. [R62] 1/5 · US Terrible.: Terrible app. No access to much of anything without payment. Not worth payment . The financial “news” is just slanted political propaganda.
  40. [R24] 1/5 · US Slow news. Not worth a fee: I paid for this service to get news as soon as it happens. The markets have completely moved by the time these alerts come through. I didn’t cancel until the day the payment came through. I immediately cancelled within 5 minutes and they refused to refund me. Probably would have gotten a couple more stars if they refunded me for something I don’t want and have no use
  41. [R41] 2/5 · US Increase Number of Free Articles: Like the articles, but the limit is too low. Should be able to access more articles daily to read.
  42. [R465] 3/5 · CA No dark mode. Very disappointed.: No dark mode
  43. [R607] 3/5 · CA Great: Great for articles and view the market; but I would like to see the viturual exchange available soon

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store