Well I use Easynews. It has great retention and speed. And the best part... a web interface. Put this together with Reget Deluxe and it makes a wonderful combination. 10 U$ a month for 6 gigs. ( I can always pul more by starting one download right at the limit ... It would seem they only check your download total once when you start your download. Last night I hit 7.5 gig .

If you use NNTP, you get an extra 25% credit to account for headers.
I do use my ISP's NNTP service, but as it's barely 3 days retention, invariably I have to look to easynews or IRC.
IRC ? Also very good . Klipper script 4.21 rocks. I don't get the fastest speed, but it works quite well.
Cheers
Star Buck