SquawkIQ is a stock news app for the web and iPhone. You build a watchlist from tickers, company names or topics, and it reads the matching headlines aloud. That suits a stock book. If what moves your day is CPI, payrolls, the Fed and the Treasury curve, you need the macro tape read and scored.
SquawkIQ is cheaper by the month, $19 against $39.99, and it does things Helious does not: an iPhone app, push alerts, and audio personalised to your own stock watchlist. Helious does a different job. It covers US macro, rates and Treasury auctions, scores every release on print in standard deviations, and puts the written feed, the calendar, the curve and a live squawk on one screen, with an API and an MCP server included. If the audio is all you want, Helious sells its live squawk on its own for $99 a year, paid yearly, against $190 a year for SquawkIQ Premium. The two voices read different things: Helious reads prints, auctions and central bank calls, and SquawkIQ reads your watchlist.
| Helious | SquawkIQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $39.99 / month | $19 on Premium |
| Cost per year | $199 a year with the current yearly offer, or about $480 paid monthly | $190 on Premium, paid yearly |
| Audio on its own, per year | $99 on the Squawk plan, paid yearly, no monthly plan | $190 on Premium, paid yearly |
| Free tier | Yes, no card required | Yes, $0 |
| Audio on the free tier | Yes, 10 minutes behind | Up to 10 watchlist audio squawks a day |
| Coverage focus | US macro, rates, Treasuries and index futures | Stock news, by watchlist |
| What the audio reads | Every print, every auction and every central bank call | Headlines that match your watchlist |
| Audio personalised to a watchlist | No, one squawk for everyone | Yes, by ticker, company name or topic |
| Written news feed | Yes, every item scored as it lands | Yes, a searchable newsfeed |
| Economic calendar | Yes, forecast, prior and live result | Schedule only on Free; results, estimates, forecasts and previous readings on Premium |
| Standard deviation surprise scoring | Yes, every US release scored on print | Not listed on its site |
| Treasury auction results | Yes, tail, bid to cover and bidder split in seconds | Not listed on its site |
| Yield curve and spread board | Yes, 2s, 5s, 10s, 30s, 2s10s and curve regime | Not listed on its site |
| API and MCP server | Yes, included | Not listed on its site |
| iPhone app and push alerts | No app, it runs in a browser; alerts in the terminal on Pro | Yes, an iPhone app, with push alerts on Premium |
Go with SquawkIQ if you trade single stocks, you want headlines for your own watchlist read aloud, and you want an iPhone app with push alerts for $19 a month.
Go with Helious if you trade around US data, rates and Treasury auctions, and you want the release scored, the auction read and the curve on the same screen as the squawk.
There is a longer piece on what is the best financial news source if you want the whole category. Or go and look at the live news feed, the economic calendar and the Treasury auction results.
Competitor names are the trademarks of their respective owners. Prices shown are approximate list prices as of November 2026 and change without notice. Check each provider for current pricing. This is our own view of the market, offered as general information and not financial advice.
