World News API vs Diffbot: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
World News API (4.1/5) edges ahead of Diffbot (3.7/5) overall. World News API is the better choice for location-aware apps on a small budget. Diffbot is the stronger option for developers collecting news from a fixed list of sites. The right pick depends on your budget, how much history you need and whether you need full text.
World News API vs Diffbot: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | World News API | Diffbot |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 | 2008 |
| HQ | Dresden, Germany | Menlo Park, California, USA |
| Team size | Not publicly disclosed | 11–50 |
| Rating | 4.1 / 5 | 3.7 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | Latitude, longitude and radius filters from the $39 plan, plus a URL text extractor | Parser-free extraction from any article URL, linked to a Knowledge Graph |
| Pricing model | Daily points plans; per-point overage | Monthly credit plans |
| Entry price | $39/mo | $299/mo |
| Formats & SDKs | REST API, JSON, OpenAPI-generated SDKs | REST API, JSON, Python SDK |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR, AI & LLM apps | AI & LLM apps, Research & academia, Marketing & PR, Financial services |
World News API vs Diffbot: overview
World News API
skycraft GmbH, a Dresden company that has built developer APIs since 2015, runs World News API. Besides article search with language, sentiment and location filters, it has front-page and top-news endpoints and an extractor that returns clean text from any article URL, which is useful even if your news comes from somewhere else. SDKs are generated from its OpenAPI spec, so most languages are covered. Billing is in points: the free plan gives 50 a day but requires a backlink and allows one request a second, Reporter costs $39 a month for 500 a day, and the largest self-serve plan is $1,779. Team size and coverage claims are not independently documented.
Diffbot
Diffbot, founded by Mike Tung in 2008 and based in Menlo Park, California, has an estimated 30–40 staff. Point its Article API at any news URL and it returns title, author, date and clean text without a site-specific parser, and Crawlbot can follow a list of publishers you choose. Its Knowledge Graph links articles to companies, people and topics, so it can also be queried as a news source. The free plan includes 10,000 credits at five calls a minute, Startup costs $299 a month for 250,000 credits, and each exported Knowledge Graph entity costs 25 credits. It works best when you want to build your own news collection from chosen sites.
Features: World News API vs Diffbot
| Capability | World News API | Diffbot |
|---|---|---|
| Full article text | ✓ | ✓ |
| Historical archive | ✓ | ✓ |
| NLP enrichment | ✓ | ✓ |
| Story/event clustering | ✗ | ✗ |
| Official SDK | ✗ | ✓ |
| Streaming or webhooks | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free access | ✓ | ✓ |
Formats and SDKs: World News API vs Diffbot
| Format / SDK | World News API | Diffbot |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Python SDK | N/A | ✓ |
| Node.js SDK | N/A | N/A |
| Webhooks | N/A | 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: World News API vs Diffbot
| Criterion | World News API | Diffbot |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $39/mo | $299/mo |
| Pricing model | Daily points plans; per-point overage | Monthly credit plans |
| Access models | Free tier, Monthly plans | Free tier, Monthly plans, Enterprise contract |
| Price transparency | Public price | Public price |
| Price tier | Budget | Mid-market |
Who each API suits: World News API vs Diffbot
| Dimension | World News API | Diffbot |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer type | Individuals to enterprise | Individuals to enterprise |
| Typical uses | News & content apps, Marketing & PR, AI & LLM apps | AI & LLM apps, Research & academia, Marketing & PR |
| Example use cases | News near a user in a mobile app. Positive-only or negative-only news feeds by sentiment. | Monitoring niche trade publications. Clean article text for an LLM from known URLs. |
| How you get access | Free tier | Free tier |
World News API vs Diffbot: pros and cons
| World News API | |
|---|---|
| + | Radius search is rare in this price range |
| + | The extractor cleans any article URL, including ones from other APIs |
| + | OpenAPI spec means client libraries for most languages |
| + | A German company of record, which helps EU vendor checks |
| - | The free plan needs a backlink and runs at one request a second |
| - | Different endpoints cost different points, so bills are harder to predict |
| - | Coverage figures are self-reported |
| Diffbot | |
|---|---|
| + | No custom scrapers to maintain when a site changes layout |
| + | 10,000 free credits with no card |
| + | Knowledge Graph links coverage to companies and people |
| + | Crawlbot handles crawling the publishers you pick |
| - | Five calls a minute on the free plan |
| - | Knowledge Graph exports cost 25 credits each |
| - | You assemble the feed yourself |
Who should choose World News API?
A typical fit: news near a user in a mobile app.
Latitude, longitude and radius filters from the $39 plan, plus a URL text extractor. Paid access starts at $39/mo. Typical uses: News & content apps, Marketing & PR, AI & LLM apps.
Who should choose Diffbot?
A typical fit: monitoring niche trade publications.
Parser-free extraction from any article URL, linked to a Knowledge Graph. Paid access starts at $299/mo. Typical uses: AI & LLM apps, Research & academia, Marketing & PR, Financial services.
Decision matrix: World News API vs Diffbot
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want to start free before paying | Both |
| Your budget is at the lower end | World News API |
| You need full article text in the response | Both |
| You need years of historical news | Both |
| You want an official SDK | Diffbot |
| You are wiring news into an LLM agent | Both work through plain REST calls |
Use case fit: World News API vs Diffbot
| Use case | World News API fit | Diffbot fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & content apps | Strong | Limited | World News API |
| Marketing & PR | Strong | Strong | Both equally |
| AI & LLM apps | Strong | Strong | Both equally |
| Research & academia | Limited | Strong | Diffbot |
| Financial services | Limited | Strong | Diffbot |
Verdict: World News API vs Diffbot
World News API (4.1/5) is the stronger overall choice as a news data source. Latitude, longitude and radius filters from the $39 plan, plus a URL text extractor.
Diffbot (3.7/5) is worth a look if you need clean article text for an LLM from known URLs. If your situation matches that, Diffbot is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
World News API vs Diffbot FAQ
Is World News API better than Diffbot?
World News API (4.1/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. World News API's strongest advantage: radius search is rare in this price range. Diffbot's strongest advantage: no custom scrapers to maintain when a site changes layout.
How do World News API and Diffbot differ in pricing?
World News API: daily points plans; per-point overage, with paid access from $39/mo. Diffbot: monthly credit plans, with paid access from $299/mo. Both offer some free access for testing.
Which is better for enterprise: World News API or Diffbot?
Diffbot 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 World News API and Diffbot?
What sets World News API apart: Latitude, longitude and radius filters from the $39 plan, plus a URL text extractor. What sets Diffbot apart: parser-free extraction from any article URL, linked to a Knowledge Graph. They also differ on entry price ($39/mo vs $299/mo) and typical uses (News & content apps, Marketing & PR vs AI & LLM apps, Research & academia).
Verify all details directly with each API before making a decision.