What People Love About SmartNews
Before we get into where Start Page HQ goes further, credit where it's due.
- A genuinely fast mobile reading experience optimized for one-handed scrolling.
- A free, ad-supported core product with content from 3,000+ media outlets.
- Smart offline mode that pre-fetches headlines so you can read without a connection.
- Useful extras like weather, coupons, and a points-rewards program built into the app.
- A SmartNews+ subscription tier for users who want premium business news and coupons.
Where Start Page HQ Goes Further
Specific differences, not vague claims.
Works on Desktop, Not Just Mobile
SmartNews is built around its iOS and Android apps. Start Page HQ runs on every desktop browser — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge — plus the hosted web app at startpagehq.com.
News On Every New Tab, Not in a Separate App
SmartNews is a destination — open the app, scroll, close it. Start Page HQ puts News and News Summary widgets right on your new tab page, alongside your weather, todos, and links.
AI-Powered Daily News Summary
The News Summary widget gives you a daily AI-generated summary of top stories — a 30-second briefing instead of scrolling through a card stack.
Bring Your Own RSS, Not Just SmartNews Channels
SmartNews surfaces what its algorithm picks. Start Page HQ's Feed widget lets you follow any RSS source — independent blogs, niche publications, the writers a mainstream aggregator doesn't carry.
News Plus 49+ Other Widgets
SmartNews is one tool. Start Page HQ is a dashboard with 50+ widgets — News, RSS, Substack, weather, calendar, tasks, AI tools. Build a reading-and-doing dashboard, not just a news feed.
No Ads, No Tracking
SmartNews is ad-supported and tracks reading patterns to personalize content. Start Page HQ is paid, ad-free, with no behavioral tracking and no recommendation feed mining your reading history.
Side-by-Side Comparison
An honest line-by-line look at how the two stack up.
| Feature | SmartNews | Start Page HQ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free (ad-supported) or paid SmartNews+ | $25/yr or $49 lifetime |
| Free tier | Yes (ad-supported) | Free demo only |
| Lives on every new tab | No | Yes |
| Chrome | No | Yes |
| Firefox | No | Yes |
| Safari | No | Yes |
| Edge | No | Yes |
| Hosted web app | Yes | Yes |
| iOS / Android apps | Yes | No |
| News feed widget | Yes | Yes |
| AI daily news summary | No | Yes |
| Custom RSS feeds | No | Yes |
| Substack newsletter widget | No | Yes |
| Offline reading | Yes | No |
| Coupons / rewards | Yes | No |
| Algorithmic personalization | Yes | No |
| Ads in feed | Yes | No |
| Multi-page dashboards | No | Yes |
| Other widgets (weather, tasks, calendar, etc.) | No | 50+ |
Widgets That Replace SmartNews
Drop these onto your dashboard and you've covered SmartNews's core features — plus a lot more.
Frequently Asked Questions
For desktop news reading and dashboard-style daily checking, yes — drop the News and News Summary widgets on your new tab page. For mobile-first one-handed scrolling with offline reading, SmartNews is still better at that specific workflow. Many users keep both: SmartNews on the phone, Start Page HQ on every browser.
SmartNews has a free ad-supported tier. Start Page HQ has a free public demo at startpagehq.com/demo, but full access requires a paid plan: $25/year or $49 one-time. Both include all 50+ widgets, sync, and AI credits — and no ads.
No. Start Page HQ does not pre-fetch articles for offline reading the way SmartNews mobile does. If commute reading without a connection is your core use case, SmartNews is still the better fit for that workflow.
Yes. Sign in once and your pages, news preferences, feeds, and widgets sync across every browser and device automatically.
SmartNews bundles coupons and a points-rewards program inside the app. Start Page HQ does not — it stays focused on the dashboard and the widgets.
The News Summary widget delivers a daily AI-generated summary of top stories so you can catch up in 30 seconds. SmartNews does not have an equivalent feature.