Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

MarketWatch vs Stocks

MarketWatch 4.7★ · Free + IAP 70
Winner MarketWatch
Stocks 4.5★ · Free to download 55

MarketWatch is the better choice for users seeking in-depth financial news and analysis, despite its subscription model and occasional technical glitches, while Stocks is a basic, free option for quick stock tracking that is hampered by frequent paywalls for news.

Full reviews: MarketWatch · Stocks

MarketWatch offers more comprehensive financial news and features for serious investors, though it comes with a subscription cost and some users report app bugs. Stocks is a free, easy-to-use app for tracking stocks, but its news content is heavily paywalled, frustrating many users.

Head to head

Features edge: MarketWatchR8R20R47R32
MarketWatch MarketWatch provides feature stories and reliable information, with users appreciating its notifications and summaries of market data R8R20R47R32. However, some users desire more functionality like a dark mode, article saving, and better watchlist sorting R9R36. Charting functionality is also reported to be broken or limited for some .
Stocks Stocks is praised for providing essential information and being easy to use for tracking stocks . However, users frequently complain about the lack of advanced features like sorting options for watchlists and customization . Some also note missing specific stocks .
Ease of Use edge: StocksR7R15R16R31
MarketWatch MarketWatch is generally considered good, but some users find it complicated to use, especially with login issues and article access R7R15R16R31. There are also complaints about a clunky interface and navigation issues on newer iPhones .
Stocks Stocks is frequently praised for being easy to use and providing readily available information . However, some recent updates have made the app awkward to use, and controlling verbiage is unclear for some .
Reliability tieR20R13R16R19
MarketWatch MarketWatch is cited for providing reliable information for trading R20. However, numerous users report significant bugs, including articles not opening, watchlists not working, comments links being broken, and login issues R13R16R19. Some also mention inaccurate watchlist calculations .
Stocks Stocks is generally seen as reliable for tracking stock data . However, there are significant complaints about data inaccuracy, with users reporting incorrect market data displays and prices not matching official exchanges . Some users also report the app stopping updates .
Price/Value tieR10R25R34R37
MarketWatch MarketWatch offers a free tier but frequently charges for articles, leading to user frustration R10R25R34R37. Subscribers also report issues with false advertising regarding pricing and customer service for refunds R4. Some subscribers also complain about excessive pop-up ads .
Stocks Stocks is free to download but heavily relies on paywalls for news articles, often linking to Apple News subscriptions R63R67R72R76. This frustrates users who feel they are constantly upsold and cannot access relevant news without paying.
Support tieR4R16R58
MarketWatch MarketWatch users report difficulty reaching customer service and receiving error messages when trying to get support for subscription or app issues R4R16R58.
Stocks There is no specific feedback on customer support for the Stocks app in the provided reviews.
Pick MarketWatch if

you are a serious investor looking for in-depth financial news and analysis, and are willing to pay for a subscription despite some reported app bugs and login issues R8R20R32.

Pick Stocks if

you need a basic, free app primarily for tracking stock prices and don't mind the frequent paywalls for news articles .

Evidence note: Reviews for both apps frequently mention political bias in news content, but this is a subjective dimension and not directly comparable for a 'winner' in a feature-based comparison. Many reviews for both apps are very short and uninformative, making detailed comparisons challenging.

Frequently asked

Does MarketWatch offer a free tier?
Yes, MarketWatch offers a free tier, but many articles are paywalled, requiring a subscription to read beyond the headline or a short preview R10R25R34R37.
Is the Stocks app truly free?
The Stocks app is free to download and use for basic stock tracking, but most news articles within the app are behind paywalls, often requiring a separate Apple News subscription R63R67R72R76.
Do these apps have dark mode?
MarketWatch users have specifically requested a dark mode, indicating it is currently missing R9R36. The Stocks app, despite system-wide settings, forces a dark mode display, which is a significant accessibility flaw for some users R70.

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. [R8] MarketWatch 5/5 · US Market watch is good reading: App has some great feature stories that are enjoyable to read
  2. [R20] MarketWatch 5/5 · US Reliable information: I can always count on the MarketWatch to get my reliable information to plan my trading day!
  3. [R47] MarketWatch 5/5 · US Fascinating Market News 🗞️: I really like the quick notifications and small summaries on market data and financial movements
  4. [R32] MarketWatch 5/5 · US Just a trader: Good performance stats I like them and have been for awhile I would like to get the alerts again it is really worth it for the subscription and I like them better than the others
  5. [R7] MarketWatch 1/5 · US Complicada de usar: Complicada de Usar
  6. [R15] MarketWatch 3/5 · US Will not open: When I receive MW emails, the articles have stopped automatically opening; rather I have to log in with each one.
  7. [R16] MarketWatch 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!
  8. [R31] MarketWatch 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…
  9. [R13] MarketWatch 1/5 · US Bug: Since the last update, ca no longer click on the Comments link on iOS devices, either iPhone or iPad.
  10. [R19] MarketWatch 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.
  11. [R10] MarketWatch 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?
  12. [R25] MarketWatch 1/5 · US Why charge for reading??: Plenty of sources to go to for the same information for free
  13. [R34] MarketWatch 1/5 · US Cost: They now want to charge you to read just about any articles
  14. [R37] MarketWatch 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.
  15. [R4] MarketWatch 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.
  16. [R58] MarketWatch 1/5 · US Bad site: Bad site vse shows 403 page not found. I am a teacher and have used this before but not anymore pretty lame customer service
  17. [R63] Stocks 3/5 · US Too much paid news: Would like to be able to filter out the pay walled news articles. Would like to have only free to read articles shown. Thank you
  18. [R67] Stocks 2/5 · US Subscription useless: All these stories are originally published by other sources - which are available for no charge through many other sources. This just makes this app look silly and unnecessarily greedy. Leaves a bad impression in a long time Apple customers mind. This is one of the drop off points where you lose customers.
  19. [R72] Stocks 3/5 · US Good, but…: …just too many paywall / Apple News stories.
  20. [R76] Stocks 1/5 · US Upsell: Almost every link to an article requires a subscription to read it.
  21. [R9] MarketWatch 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.
  22. [R36] MarketWatch 3/5 · US Desperately need dark mode: My eyes are getting blind
  23. [R70] Stocks 1/5 · US Major Accessibility Flaw - Ignores System Light Mode: I have my entire phone explicitly set to Light Mode because looking at dark mode apps triggers a medical condition related to a visual challenge I have. Despite this system-wide setting, Apple has designed the Stocks app (as well as the Clock app) to always show in dark mode with zero way to change it. It is absolutely disgusting that a company

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