TweakNews Deal: A Whole Year for €7.50 a Month With a Free VPN!
TweakNews is a Dutch Usenet provider with its own European servers, 5,000 days of retention and up to 60 connections. Every plan comes with their free UsenetWire newsreader, and the top plan includes a VPN too. Right now our readers can get a whole year of TweakNews for €89.99. That works out to €7.50 a month. Here’s our TweakNews review, with the plans, the newsreader, the settings and what we think of it.
TweakNews at a Glance
- Based in: Haarlem in the Netherlands, run by Base Network Services since 1998
- Retention: up to 5,000 days, across over 120,000 newsgroups
- Completion: 99.99%, according to TweakNews
- Connections: up to 60, depending on your plan
- Speed: 50 Mbit, 100 Mbit or unlimited
- Newsreader: UsenetWire, free with every account
- VPN: free with the Ultimate + VPN plan
- Payment: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Sofort, giropay and Bancontact
- Guarantee: 30-day money-back guarantee on your first account
- Our deal: a whole year of Ultimate + VPN for €89.99
TweakNews Plans and Prices
There are three regular TweakNews plans, and they only really differ in speed and connections. All of them have unlimited downloads and 5,000 days of retention. These are TweakNews’s own prices, and they get cheaper the longer you sign up for.
Fast: 50 Mbit and 30 connections, from €5.83 a month on the yearly plan, or €7.95 month to month.
Lightning: 100 Mbit and 40 connections, from €7.50 a month yearly, or €9.95 month to month.
Ultimate + VPN: unlimited speed, 60 connections and the VPN, from €9.07 a month yearly, or €12.95 month to month.
There’s a 6-month option on each plan too, if you’d rather not pay for a whole year up front.
Our Yearly TweakNews Deal
Through our link you get the Ultimate + VPN plan for €89.99 for the whole year. That’s €7.50 a month for their best plan, which is less than TweakNews charges for it on its own site. It also saves you €65.41 off the regular €155.40. There’s a monthly option for €9.99 too, but we’d go with the yearly one. You get a much better price and you don’t have to think about it again for a year. Get the TweakNews yearly deal here.
What It Renews At
TweakNews sells one-off plans and recurring ones. A one-off plan just runs out on its end date, so you’re never charged again. A recurring plan charges you again at the start of each new term. TweakNews says price changes only kick in at renewal, and they’ll tell you first. So before your year is up, look in your account to see what the next year will cost. You can cancel or renew from the billing section of your dashboard.
Monthly or Yearly?
The monthly deal is €9.99 a month, so a year of it would cost you €119.88. The yearly deal is €89.99 for the same Ultimate + VPN plan, which saves you almost €30. You also don’t have to think about paying every month. And if it’s not for you, the 30-day money-back guarantee covers the yearly plan too. So unless you only need TweakNews for a few weeks, we’d go with the yearly deal. It’s the best value TweakNews has.
How to Sign Up for TweakNews
Signing up only takes a few minutes. Here’s how it works.
- Go to the TweakNews yearly deal and click to order.
- Enter your email address, pick a password and choose your country.
- Pay with a card, PayPal or a European bank option like Sofort, giropay or Bancontact.
- Check your email for your username and password. Your username will usually start with “tw”.
- Download UsenetWire, log in with those details and you’re ready to go.
Your account is usually switched on right away once your payment goes through. If you want to post to Usenet as well as download, ask TweakNews support to turn posting on for you.
Retention and Completion
Retention is how long a provider keeps posts on its servers. The more days it has, the further back you can go to find older files. TweakNews keeps up to 5,000 days of posts, which is well over 13 years, across more than 120,000 newsgroups. They say their completion rate is 99.99%, so the files you find should come down in one piece. Their servers are in Europe, and TweakNews runs its own network instead of renting someone else’s. That’s why some people also use it as a second provider, to fill in files their main one is missing.
Connections and Speed
TweakNews gives you up to 60 connections at once. The Fast plan has 30, Lightning has 40 and Ultimate + VPN has 60. So if you want the most speed out of your internet connection, the Ultimate + VPN plan is the one to get. Most people won’t need all 60, but it’s nice to have them.
Speed depends on the plan too. Fast is capped at 50 Mbit and Lightning at 100 Mbit, while Ultimate + VPN has no speed cap at all. There’s a European server and a US one, so you can pick whichever is closer to you. Keep in mind that an account is meant for one person, though. If it’s logged in from lots of places at once, it can get blocked for a while.
The UsenetWire Newsreader
Every TweakNews account comes with UsenetWire, their own newsreader, and it’s free to download once you sign up. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. Plus, it comes set up already, so you just type in your TweakNews username and password. There’s a search built in too, which means you can find files and download them in the same program without a separate indexer. These screenshots are from when we first set it up, so it may look a little different now.
If you’d rather use another newsreader, that works fine too. Our UsenetWire review goes into more detail on the newsreader.
TweakNews Server Settings
Your username and password are in the welcome email TweakNews sends you, and in your member area. If you use a different newsreader like SABnzbd, these are the settings you need.
- Server: news.tweaknews.eu
- SSL ports: 563 or 443
- Regular ports: 119 or 80
- Europe server: eu.tweaknews.eu
- US server: us.tweaknews.eu
- Connections: 30, 40 or 60, depending on your plan
We’d always pick SSL, so your connection is encrypted. Port 443 is handy if your internet provider blocks the usual Usenet ports.
Do You Need a VPN With TweakNews?
No, you don’t need one for Usenet. Your TweakNews connection is already encrypted with SSL, so what you download stays between you and TweakNews. A VPN covers everything else you do online, like browsing and streaming. So it’s a nice extra, and it comes free with the Ultimate + VPN plan.
What’s the TweakNews VPN Like?
The VPN that comes with TweakNews is PrivadoVPN, and it’s a no-log VPN. It has servers in more than 60 cities, with WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2. You also get a kill switch and split tunneling, so you can choose which apps go through it. There are apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, Fire TV and Apple TV, plus a Chrome extension. You can use it on up to 10 devices at once. Just remember it’s tied to your Usenet plan, so the VPN stops when your account ends.
Is There a TweakNews Free Trial?
Not right now. We don’t see a free trial anywhere on TweakNews’s site. Instead, your first account comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. So you can still try it and get your money back if it’s not for you.
To ask for a refund, open a support ticket within 30 days with your email and purchase date. TweakNews says refunds usually take 3 to 5 business days. The guarantee only covers your first account, though, not renewals.
TweakNews vs Other Usenet Providers
TweakNews is a European provider, so it’s fair to compare it with the other ones people ask us about. Eweka is also Dutch, and its 15-month deal is €6.99 a month with more than 6,600 days of retention. Newshosting is a US provider with servers in Europe too, and our deal there is $5.99 a month with 100 connections and a VPN. TweakNews has less retention than both. But its yearly deal is simple, and its top plan has no speed cap. If you’d like to see more, our list of the best European Usenet providers compares them all.
Pros and Cons
Pros: 5,000 days of retention, up to 60 connections, a free newsreader with search, a free VPN on the top plan, lots of ways to pay, and a great yearly price through our link.
Cons: less retention than some bigger providers, the cheaper plans cap your speed, the VPN is only on the top plan, and there’s no free trial.
Who Should Get It?
TweakNews is a good fit if you live in Europe and want a provider close to home. It’s also good if you’d like a VPN without paying for one separately. And if you already have a main provider, TweakNews works well as a second one to fill in missing files. It also makes sense if you like paying in euros, since every TweakNews price is in euros. But if you want the most retention you can get, a provider with 6,600+ days might suit you better.
TweakNews FAQs
Is TweakNews a good Usenet provider?
Yes, we think so. It has its own European network, 5,000 days of retention and up to 60 connections. And through our link, a whole year of their best plan is €89.99.
Does TweakNews keep logs?
They say they don’t log which newsgroups you visit or what you download. They do keep your IP address and the times you connect.
Can I share my account?
No, a Usenet account is meant for one person. If it’s used from lots of places at once, it can get blocked for a while. The VPN is different, though. You can use it on up to 10 devices and share it with people you trust.
Does it renew automatically?
Only if you’re on a recurring plan. Otherwise your account just expires on its end date. You can cancel or renew from the billing section of your account.
What payment methods can I use?
Visa, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal, plus Sofort, giropay and Bancontact for European banks. We didn’t see crypto as an option.
Can I use TweakNews outside Europe?
Yes. It’s based in the Netherlands, but there’s a US server as well, at us.tweaknews.eu. Just pick the server that’s closest to you in your newsreader settings.
Do I need an indexer?
Not always. UsenetWire has a search built in, so you can find files without one. But if you use SABnzbd or another newsreader, you’ll want an NZB indexer as well.
Where is TweakNews based?
It’s run by Base Network Services in Haarlem, in the Netherlands, and they’ve been around since 1998. Support is in English and Dutch, by email or ticket.
Is TweakNews Worth It?
We think so, especially on the yearly deal. For €7.50 a month you get unlimited speed, 60 connections, the newsreader and a VPN, which is a lot for the money. It’s a strong choice if you’re in Europe, and it works well as a second provider too. Save €65 on a year of TweakNews, or compare it with our other European Usenet providers and this month’s Usenet special offers.