CNN: Live & Breaking News
Daily news you can trust
How much does CNN: Live & Breaking News cost?
Prices are current as of 6 Oct 2026.
4 subscriptions from $3.99
In the United States, CNN: Live & Breaking News has 4 subscriptions priced $3.99 – 69.99.
| Subscription | Period | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CNN Monthly Subscription | Monthly | $3.99 |
| All Access (Monthly) | Monthly | $6.99 |
| CNN Annual Subscription | Annual | $29.99 |
| All Access (Annual) | Annual | $69.99 |
10+ alternatives to CNN: Live & Breaking News
| CNN: Live & Breaking News |   Washington Post |   The Guardian - US & World News |   The Economist: News & Analysis |   AP News |   USA TODAY: US & Breaking News |   BBC: World News & Stories |   NBC News: Breaking & US News |   Espresso: World news in a shot |   MS NOW: Live & Breaking News |   CBS News: Live Breaking News | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 3.7 |
| Reviews | 2.2M | 724K | 633K | 470K | 404K | 253K | 227K | 172K | 39K | 24K | 20K |
| Released | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2018 | 2010 | 2012 | 2010 | 2009 | 2014 | 2011 | 2009 |
| Monthly price | $3.99 | $13.99 | $14.99 | $6.90 | — | $14.99 | $8.99 | $5.99 | $8.90 | $7.99 | — |
| Annual price | $29.99 | $139.99 | $129.99 | $249.00 | — | $89.00 | $89.99 | $59.99 | $99.00 | $79.99 | — |
The going rate for each plan in United States, in its own currency, shaded from the cheapest price on the row to the dearest. Plans fewer than four in ten of the priced apps sell are left out.
CNN: Live & Breaking News reviews
4.7 out of 5, based on 2,235,449 reviews.
What people like
- Great for live breaking news updates
- Clean and simple design
- Good source for political coverage
What they complain about
- Most articles are behind a paywall
- Ads interrupt you constantly
- Keeps crashing when you open it
- Support never actually helps
Good News Source
I find CNN to be generally a good place to go to for news. A bit on the Trump obsessed side and very pro Israel and pro genocide but ok otherwise. Good news source but must be balanced with other new sources.
Stop news stories limit
Putting a limit on news stories
Listening Portion Frustrating
I enjoy the app for the most part and enjoy being able to listen to the broadcast when I’m driving. However, the weird music over the commercial breaks is the most annoying thing ever. Repeating the same commercials over and over was pretty annoying already, but since they’ve implemented this ridiculous music stretch for 2-3 minutes, I waffle on even listening at all. I have to turn my volume off and keep checking to see if the broadcast has returned. I wish you would just let the normal tv commercials play.
Deleted due to subscription requirement
I deleted this app after using it for over a decade because CNN switched to a subscription service. I will stick with AP News for their excellent free reporting.
AppleTV
Love CNN news. Recently added to AppleTV. Streaming live, of course there are commercials. Commercials are fine but there’s only one commercial. SIX IDENTICAL COMMERCIALS IN A ROW! Please try for some diversity.
Happy with service
Initially had an issue with fire stick freezing on CNN splash screen but issue was quickly resolved the next day after posting a review with my concern. App has worked consistently with no issues
Money app
This app wants you to pay for basic news. Nothing for free anymore, deleting this liberal rag of an app. Came here every so often to see the left side of the news but no longer. Refuse to pay for mediocre at best news
Accepting cookies
Accepting cookies for people out of USA is impossible since the accept button is under the navigation icons at bottom of page. This leaves 1/2 of the page to read an article.
Too many commercials for their own shows.
I like CNN, however, when I try to stream on their app, there are sometimes when I have to sit through five minutes of commercials for their own shows. Please cut back on the amount of self promotion and get down to the news and commentary. That’s what I’m paying for.
Need subscription to live stream news?
Not happening. I’ll stick to Kate 11 and 5 eyewitness. Kinda bummed.
Useless
App is being rendered useless. Barely use it but I hit my ‘free limit’?? Guess if it’s that easy to hit I can’t use it anymore. Peace out.
Glitches
This app has glitched for months. Can’t swipe up or down, it decides to flash and have to close the app. And that only temporarily pauses it.
Audio control
Good app, however always frustrating that background music on my phone stops when I want to read an article due to the app’s audio control.
Doesn’t work good on TV
App works great on my iPhone but the ads on the TV are CONSTANTLY getting stuck. I’ve tried everything and still gets stuck. I mostly subscribe to watch on my TV. Please fix this 🙏🏽
Recent Problems
A few things: 1. I get email notifications of CNN headlines. A new glitch—when I click the link, it takes me to the main page (Top Stories), instead of linking directly to the story I clicked on. Sometimes I can find the story buried on that page—but often I cannot. 2. As others are reporting—it’s very frustrating to have to confirm cookie choices every single time I open the app. 3. I don’t know if this is an issue with the app, or something else. The CNN widget in my ‘Today’ Notifications stopped working on my iPad the other day. The next day—it stopped working on my iPhone 16 Pro Max, running the most current iOS. I’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling the widget, and rebooting my devices. The widget remains blank on both devices. PLEASE FIX THESE ISSUES.
Glitchy
The latest edition glitches when I scroll on my iPhone.
Absolutely Terrible
Too many ads, pay to read, biased opinionated content. A joke to call this a major news outlet
Terrible app
Confusing to use. Never again
Not paying
There is no reason to limit access behind a paywall. I’d rather delete or look elsewhere
Content good but functionality bugs
Content and app works fine but I have to accept cookies every time I reopen the app.
Best sources on earth
Can not live without it, stay safe stay in knowing what’s happening surrounding you , follow the craziness in the states and around the word , love you CNN YOU ARE ALWAYS IN OUR HEART , you are the best before, now, and forever , I thanks each one of you starting from small level employees to the top boss , ( loyal forever )
BS Subscriber only articles
Lots of stale articles, annoying ads and pay to read bs popups. Total flop of app!
Oversight on Magic Wall
The magic wall is great, but it doesn’t show how many electoral votes each state is worth. Seems like an oversight.
Limited articles and then you have to subscribe
It’s beyond me that I can only read certain amount of articles and then it asked me to subscribe and pay for it! News should be free just like the other outlets USA TODAY, MSN and the list goes on but after reading 2 to 3 articles you are forced to Subscribe or re-launch the app one star!
Cnn
Not working for Canada. This is a shame
Thank you
Thank you for standing up for transgender rights and continuing to expose the transphobia that exists around the world. Please pass this message of gratitude onto your journalists: You’re saving lives by advocating for transgender community. Thank you.
All CNN Ads
We’ve paid for CNN for decades and now they want to charge more for content. And even things that aren’t labeled ‘for subscribers’ are not available when opened. Time to delete this app.
Magic wall for Vision Pro would have been incredible maybe next time?
Great design though.
Subscribe today!
You’d think CNN would make enough money from advertising… Can’t read half the articles about our world without a monthly payment. Greed is alive and well.
Do you think we've lost the ability to read?
There is nothing wrong with the content of the app, but I really dislike the way that you present it to us. So much content is delivered via video. Are you pandering to the lowest common denominator? Those who find reading too taxing? The news is serious business and deserves to be presented in a serious way. Give us content that we can read, not video clips that just wash over us and are not absorbed.
Videos keep stating half way through or crash out
I am British and have the US version been following CNN since the Gulf War when I was on holiday and wondering if I was going to get home.Love US politics much more interesting than the UK especially with D Trump.But some of the news video clips start half way through or out of sync and they also sometimes finish before the end.Please could we get this sorted very frustrating.
Doesn’t work
I’m a subscriber. CNN coverage justifies the cost, but the app simply isn’t working. All I get is the red splash screen. Nine out of ten times that I try to open the app, I never get beyond the red screen and the CNN logo. I’ve tried deleting and re-downloading the app. Nothing works. Very annoying. I will have to cancel my subscription if CNN does not resolve this bug.
Confused
I subscribe to CNN. I thought that I’d be able to watch live TV via the app. I can on the website. Am I doing something wrong?!
Won’t verify TV provider correctly
When I verify I have a subscription through my Bell TV account, it accepts the verification but says there is a playback error whenever I try to watch something.
Settings doesn’t work
On balance, I enjoy the app. But if I click on “settings”, none of the options within settings work. So, I can’t access saved stories for example; If I try to click on any options within settings nothing happens.
CNN had been the global got to news network
CNN surrendered a global news leadership position when it abruptly exited the international scene some 18 months ago. People plus networks like BBC, ITV and Sky all depended on and feared CNN for its coverage of world events and things like the 2020 election and Jan 6. Now gone from TV screens in the UK. A shame and lost opportunity for CNN.
Goodbye
After being over 10 years reading CNN news, time to say goodbye due to most articles need subscriptions.
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Enquiring minds want to know l
I downloaded the CNN app in the hope that I would be able to keep up with the news anywhere I went only to find that you can’t get Iive programs on my iPad. The must be someway to do it.
Last update has issues
The top news navigation to top of the page does not work anymore in the lat version
Honest Reporting
Honest reporting. Tells it as it is and not afraid to ask the hard questions use it every day to get the news.
You want how much?
Most of the articles are behind a pay wall. I’m not paying for news I can otherwise find for free on the internet.
Love the app
But could really do with “dark mode “ x
Won’t open
There’s a 50-50 chance this app will open on my iPhone 16. Every other app opens fine.
Stories should delete
I like CNN, however your weekend reporting is really an artifice. Every seems to leave at 4 pm Friday and forget any real refresh. You leave up stories I am not interested for months. Just wasting space and makes you look Lazy. Ads popping up in my read are so annoying I may go back to a newspaper.
CNN
Simply the BEST ,and SECOND TO NONE
Subscription issue
Have basic subscription that does not allow me to read articles anymore. Sent messages to ask for help but not response! I restarted it, deleted it and reinstalled it several times, restarted my phone each time, but nothing helps!! It often used to freeze on the CNN logo when opening it and had to restart it to be able to update the articles displayed. Bad in every way.
Up to Date News
A great newsfeed keeping me updated on world events
App has glitches
I like the CNN app and I use it regularly. Pretty much every day. In the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that when I try to exit one of their short videos, the app does not allow me to do so. The X in the top left corner is not working. My only option is to exit the app completely and go back in if I want to continue reading.
CNN review
Hi, You guys can make the app more easy to navigate. It seems like more content is tried to be accommodated on the screen. And all the videos (related or unrelated advertisements) makes it even more complex. Colour combination is good, font is good. Need to work on presentation and navigation of the content. Regards
CNN: Live & Breaking News FAQ
- Is CNN: Live & Breaking News free?
- Yes. The app and its basic features are free, in all 175 countries it sells in. Premium features are paid: they start from $3.99 (US), across 4 subscriptions.
- How much does CNN: Live & Breaking News cost per month?
- All Access (Monthly) is $3.99 – 6.99 (US). The annual plan works out cheaper per month: $29.99 – 69.99 a year.
- Does CNN: Live & Breaking News have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (US) come with a free trial.
- What are the best alternatives to CNN: Live & Breaking News?
- Washington Post (4.7 from 724,335 reviews, premium from $3.99), The Guardian - US & World News (4.8 from 633,102 reviews, premium from $6.99) and The Economist: News & Analysis (4.8 from 470,453 reviews, premium from $6.90).
CNN: Live & Breaking News download
Last updated 10 days ago.
CNN: Live & Breaking News sells in 175 countries. It was released 17 years ago, on 29 Sept 2009. It holds a 4.7 rating from 2,235,449 reviews.
Supports 1 language: English.
How much does CNN: Live & Breaking News make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.
Revenue by plan
- Monthly 88%
- Annual 12%
Revenue by country
- United States 100%