Perigon vs TheNewsAPI: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
Perigon (4.5/5) edges ahead of TheNewsAPI (3.6/5) overall. Perigon is the better choice for indie developers and startups wanting enriched data at a known price. TheNewsAPI is the stronger option for personal dashboards needing a cheap general feed. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
Perigon vs TheNewsAPI: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | Perigon | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2022 | Not disclosed |
| HQ | Austin, Texas, USA | Not publicly disclosed |
| Team size | 11–50 | Not publicly disclosed |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 3.6 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Entity, topic and cluster data from the $25 plan up, with all tiers priced publicly | Possibly the lowest paid entry price here, if third-party pricing is current |
| Pricing model | Monthly plans; add-ons for real-time and volume | Monthly plans |
| Entry price | $25/mo | $9/mo (third-party listing) |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON, Python SDK | REST API, JSON |
| Typical uses | AI & LLM apps, Media monitoring, Risk & compliance, Marketing & PR | News & content apps |
Perigon vs TheNewsAPI: overview
Perigon
Perigon is an Austin, Texas startup founded in 2022 by Joshua Dziabiak and Josh Rickel, backed by a $5 million seed round that LiveOak Ventures led in February 2024. For developers its main draw is that the pricing page tells you what you will pay: Individual at $25 a month for personal use, Startup at $250 with limited commercial rights, and Commercial at $1,250 with real-time data, an SLA and SSO. Every tier returns enriched articles with entities, topics, summaries and story clusters from 230,000+ sources (per company website; independently unverifiable), and Monitors let you save a query and get matches on a schedule. Plan for the delay: below Commercial, data lags by an hour unless you pay for the real-time add-on.
TheNewsAPI
TheNewsAPI offers headline, top-story and all-news endpoints with language, locale, category and domain filters, and its FAQ says you can start without payment details. Each search counts as one request against a free limit of 100 a day, but free responses are capped at three articles, which makes pagination tests tedious. One comparison site lists a paid Basic tier from $9 a month (independently unverifiable). The site does not name the company behind it, where it is based or who works on it.
Features: Perigon vs TheNewsAPI
| Capability | Perigon | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✓ | ✗ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✓ | ✗ |
| Story/event clustering | ✓ | ✗ |
| Official SDK | ✓ | ✗ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: Perigon vs TheNewsAPI
| Format / SDK | Perigon | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Python SDK | ✓ | N/A |
| Node.js SDK | ✓ | N/A |
| Webhooks | ✓ | N/A |
| WebSocket | N/A | N/A |
| MCP server | N/A | N/A |
| S3/bulk delivery | N/A | N/A |
| BigQuery | N/A | N/A |
Pricing comparison: Perigon vs TheNewsAPI
| Criterion | Perigon | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $25/mo | $9/mo (third-party listing) |
| Pricing model | Monthly plans; add-ons for real-time and volume | Monthly plans |
| Access models | Free trial, Monthly plans, Enterprise contract | Free tier, Monthly plans |
| Price transparency | Public price | Public price |
| Price tier | Budget | Budget |
Who each API suits: Perigon vs TheNewsAPI
| Dimension | Perigon | TheNewsAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | AI & LLM apps, Media monitoring, Risk & compliance | News & content apps |
| Example use cases | A startup MVP that needs commercial rights from the first month. Alerting on a brand or topic without building a scheduler. | A personal morning-news page. A feed limited to a few chosen domains. |
| How you get access | Free trial | Free tier |
Perigon vs TheNewsAPI: pros and cons
| Perigon | |
|---|---|
| + | The cheapest plan already includes enrichment, which most rivals reserve for higher tiers |
| + | Monitors replace a cron job and a diffing script with a saved query |
| + | Python and Node SDKs, plus webhooks for pushed results |
| + | The license explains what you may do with the structured data, which saves a round of legal questions |
| - | Data lags by an hour below the $1,250 plan unless you buy real-time |
| - | The Startup tier caps you at 10,000 requests a month |
| - | Republishing full article text is outside the license |
| TheNewsAPI | |
|---|---|
| + | Start without a card |
| + | Domain filters make curated feeds easy |
| + | Very low reported paid price |
| - | Three articles per free response |
| - | Operator and coverage are unverified |
| - | No published detail on archive depth or enrichment |
Who should choose Perigon?
A typical fit: a startup MVP that needs commercial rights from the first month.
Entity, topic and cluster data from the $25 plan up, with all tiers priced publicly. Paid access starts at $25/mo. Typical uses: AI & LLM apps, Media monitoring, Risk & compliance, Marketing & PR.
Who should choose TheNewsAPI?
A typical fit: a personal morning-news page.
Possibly the lowest paid entry price here, if third-party pricing is current. Paid access starts at $9/mo (third-party listing). Typical uses: News & content apps.
Decision matrix: Perigon vs TheNewsAPI
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | TheNewsAPI |
| You need full article text in the response | Perigon |
| You need years of historical news | Both |
| You want an official SDK | Perigon |
| You are wiring news into an LLM agent | Perigon |
Use case fit: Perigon vs TheNewsAPI
| Use case | Perigon fit | TheNewsAPI fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI & LLM apps | Strong | Limited | Perigon |
| Media monitoring | Strong | Limited | Perigon |
| Risk & compliance | Strong | Limited | Perigon |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Limited | Perigon |
| News & content apps | Limited | Strong | TheNewsAPI |
Verdict: Perigon vs TheNewsAPI
Perigon (4.5/5) is the stronger overall choice as a news data source. Entity, topic and cluster data from the $25 plan up, with all tiers priced publicly.
TheNewsAPI (3.6/5) is worth a look if you need a feed limited to a few chosen domains. If your situation matches that, TheNewsAPI is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
Perigon vs TheNewsAPI FAQ
Is Perigon better than TheNewsAPI?
Perigon (4.5/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. Perigon's strongest advantage: the cheapest plan already includes enrichment, which most rivals reserve for higher tiers. TheNewsAPI's strongest advantage: start without a card.
How do Perigon and TheNewsAPI differ in pricing?
Perigon: monthly plans; add-ons for real-time and volume, with paid access from $25/mo. TheNewsAPI: monthly plans, with paid access from $9/mo (third-party listing). Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: Perigon or TheNewsAPI?
Perigon sells enterprise contracts with negotiated volume and SLA terms. Neither carries licensed publisher content, so check copyright terms before republishing anything.
What are the main differences between Perigon and TheNewsAPI?
What sets Perigon apart: Entity, topic and cluster data from the $25 plan up, with all tiers priced publicly. What sets TheNewsAPI apart: possibly the lowest paid entry price here, if third-party pricing is current. They also differ on entry price ($25/mo vs $9/mo (third-party listing)) and typical uses (AI & LLM apps, Media monitoring vs News & content apps).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.