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

MarketWatch vs The Wall Street Journal. News

MarketWatch 4.7★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner The Wall Street Journal. News
The Wall Street Journal. News 4.7★ · Free + IAP 75

The Wall Street Journal. News offers superior journalism and a more robust app experience despite some recent bugs, making it the better choice for serious financial news and analysis.

Full reviews: MarketWatch · The Wall Street Journal. News

MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal. News both offer financial news, but WSJ is generally praised for its in-depth, less biased reporting, while MarketWatch struggles with app functionality and a perception of political bias. Both apps face user complaints about bugs, login issues, and paywalls.

Head to head

Journalism & Content Quality edge: The Wall Street Journal. NewsR1R8R9R20
MarketWatch MarketWatch provides reliable information for trading and features enjoyable stories, though some users find its news to have a negative or left-leaning bias R20R8R1. Many articles are considered well-written and useful R9.
The Wall Street Journal. News The Wall Street Journal. News is highly praised for its strong, detailed, clear, and comprehensive reporting, with many users considering it a rare find for objective journalism that avoids partisanship . However, some users perceive a political bias and a decline in quality, with headlines resembling clickbait .
App Functionality & Reliability tieR9R13R16R19
MarketWatch MarketWatch users report numerous bugs, including articles not opening, watchlists not working, login issues, and comments links being broken R16R13. The app is described as buggy, glitchy, and poorly written, with issues like the back button not working and screen elements overlapping R19. Some users also complain about the lack of dark mode and limited features R9R36.
The Wall Street Journal. News The Wall Street Journal. News also suffers from significant app bugs, including freezing during scrolling, slow loading, articles not opening offline, and login problems with 'Sign In With Apple' . Recent updates have reportedly broken features like the crossword puzzle and the ability to download full issues . The app is also criticized for being a battery killer and overheating phones .
Features & User Experience tieR3R12R24R32
MarketWatch MarketWatch offers quick notifications and summaries and good performance stats R32. However, users desire features like saving articles, better watchlist sorting, and more clear date/time reporting R24R3. Many find the interface clunky and limited, with too many pop-up ads even for subscribers R12.
The Wall Street Journal. News The Wall Street Journal. News is praised for its intuitive UI and the 'Define' function . Users appreciate the ability to listen to articles, but request playback speed options . A major recurring complaint is the inability to view or leave comments within the app, which is a feature available on the website R66R71R75R99. Users also dislike excessive notifications, embedded videos, and the removal of the 'Print Edition' view .
Price & Value tieR4R6R10R15
MarketWatch MarketWatch users complain about false advertising regarding subscription pricing, being charged higher rates than advertised, and a lack of customer service R4. Many are frustrated by the paywall for most articles, stating that similar information is available for free elsewhere R10R25R34R37. Some subscribers experience issues with their paid access not working R6R15.
The Wall Street Journal. News The Wall Street Journal. News also faces criticism for its paywall, with users feeling that articles are inaccessible even with an active subscription, leading to demands for additional payments R10. Subscribers are disappointed by the presence of ads, including gambling ads, even after paying R93R94R96. Some consider the service overpriced given the dwindling quality and app issues .
Pick MarketWatch if

you prioritize quick market data and notifications, and are willing to tolerate app bugs and a paywall R20.

Pick The Wall Street Journal. News if

you value in-depth, high-quality journalism and reporting, and are willing to overlook some app functionality issues and a subscription cost .

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of negative reviews, often related to app bugs and subscription issues, despite their high lifetime ratings. The free-vs-paid asymmetry is present, as many negative reviews for both apps stem from frustration with paywalls or subscription features not working as expected.

Frequently asked

Is MarketWatch free to use?
MarketWatch offers a free tier, but many users report that most articles are behind a paywall, leading to frustration for those expecting free access to in-depth content R25R34R37.
Does The Wall Street Journal app have a dark mode?
The Wall Street Journal app's reviews do not mention a dark mode feature, while MarketWatch users specifically complain about its absence, suggesting it may also be missing or not a prominent feature in WSJ R9R36.
Can I read comments on articles in The Wall Street Journal app?
No, many users of The Wall Street Journal app report that they cannot view or leave comments on articles within the app, despite this feature being available on the website R66R71R75R99.
Are there ads in The Wall Street Journal app for subscribers?
Yes, paying subscribers to The Wall Street Journal app are disappointed to find banner ads and slow-loading ad blocks within articles, which can also cause the app to freeze and the phone to overheat R93R94R96.

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. [R1] MarketWatch 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
  2. [R8] MarketWatch 5/5 · US Market watch is good reading: App has some great feature stories that are enjoyable to read
  3. [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.
  4. [R20] MarketWatch 5/5 · US Reliable information: I can always count on the MarketWatch to get my reliable information to plan my trading day!
  5. [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.
  6. [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!
  7. [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.
  8. [R3] MarketWatch 3/5 · US Be more clear on dates of the DATES AND TIMES of reporting times of stocks in recorded list.: But pretty darn good!!
  9. [R12] MarketWatch 3/5 · US Jack: Way too many pop up advertisements for subscribers.
  10. [R24] MarketWatch 3/5 · US Save option: I love market watch I just wish in the app you could save articles.
  11. [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
  12. [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.
  13. [R6] MarketWatch 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.
  14. [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?
  15. [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.
  16. [R25] MarketWatch 1/5 · US Why charge for reading??: Plenty of sources to go to for the same information for free
  17. [R34] MarketWatch 1/5 · US Cost: They now want to charge you to read just about any articles
  18. [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.
  19. [R36] MarketWatch 3/5 · US Desperately need dark mode: My eyes are getting blind
  20. [R66] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US no comments: I don’t get why this app doesn’t let you leave comments, only on the website. It’s 2024, how hard can it be to add such a basic feature to the app?
  21. [R71] The Wall Street Journal. News 4/5 · US Comments?: It’s a great read, these days, but I have to use the mobile site rather than the app because the app, inexplicably in 2026, doesn’t show reader comments.
  22. [R75] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Can’t comment: Can’t comment or view comments on iPhone
  23. [R99] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Why no comments?: Obviously this is a very good newspaper, and I enjoy reading it. However, the app would be greatly improved by also allowing me to see the comments left by other readers on the article.
  24. [R93] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Buggy, Ad-filled mess: The user experience and navigation have gone backwards over the past year. The issue is that there are now so many interspersed and slow loading ad blocks in each digital article that the app freezes, and causes my iPhone to overheat. True even on my 1 Gig wifi link. We get it - news is a business that requires ad revenue, but not at the expense of degrading the product.
  25. [R94] The Wall Street Journal. News 1/5 · US Poly market ads: Get rid of them. I pay for a subscription, I don’t need to see gambling ads here as well
  26. [R96] The Wall Street Journal. News 3/5 · US Love the WSJ, don’t love Ads.: I am disappointed that the app has ads, even when offline. I am a paying member of the Wall Street journal, and I don’t find it respectable that you guys choose to have banner ads in app.

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