Newscientist vs Scientific American

Newscientist and Scientific American both land on Depends.

Newscientist

Depends

Confidence: Medium

Buy if you want accessible weekly science journalism and will watch your renewal terms closely.

Depends

Confidence: Medium

Buy if you want accessible general-audience science journalism and can catch a discount; long-time readers say quality has slipped.

Newscientist versus Scientific American
Compare	Newscientist	Scientific American
Verdict	Depends	Depends
Best for	Science enthusiasts wanting a weekly digest	Casual science readers
Who it's not for	Researchers needing peer-reviewed primary sources	Anyone needing peer-reviewed primary literature . it is journalism, not a journal
Privacy	No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.¹⁴	No known public vulnerabilities; B email security grade with public DMARC/SPF; settled an $850K privacy class action over alleged Meta data sharing.
Support quality	1.2/5 Trustpilot; 3-day reply window	No support evidence found in sources
Public sentiment	Reddit readers broadly respect the journalism but complain about paywall limits and paid-content blurring; Trustpilot reviews skew heavily negative on service.^¹	Long-time readers praise its accessibility but many say quality has declined, and app users complain about design.
Biggest gotcha	Guess: $49 promo likely auto-renews near the $199 list price . check renewal terms first.^³	Ownership changed recently; editorial direction is uncertain . check recent issues before subscribing

Anyone needing peer-reviewed primary literature . it is journalism, not a journal
Teams evaluating software . it is a magazine subscription
Readers unwilling to pay; strong free science news exists elsewhere
Buyers expecting pre-2020 editorial quality, per multiple reader complaints