A paywall blocks users and asks or requires them to pay for subscription in order to access content. And with digital reader revenue strategies on the rise across the globe, paywalls are popping up across publisher’s websites.
Here are 50 paywall benchmark examples to inspire your own paywalling efforts!
✅ A metered strategy allows users to discover the value of your content before being blocked
❌ Weak value proposition
✅ Premium content is labelled to reduce frustration
✅ Benefits of the subscription offer listed in the wall
✅ Form fields directly in the wall
✅ Registration to increase engagement
✅ Subscription offers in the wall to reduce a step in the funnel
✅ Subscribe with Google option
✅ Payment integrated into the wall to reduce a step in the funnel
✅ Countdown to create a sense of urgency to convert
✅ Premium content labelled to reduce frustration
✅ Value proposition focused on supporting quality journalism
✅ Metered registration strategy
✅ Personalized wall based on data collected through registration
✅ Bold colors and special offer forefronted
✅ Subscription benefits in the paywall
✅ A single color represents subscription across the site
✅ Strong value proposition
✅ Benefits in a readable bullet-point format
✅ Freemium strategy to increase engagement
✅ Illustration supports comprehension
✅ Reassurance: ‘secure payment’, ‘no commitment’, ‘access to client services’
✅ Offers presented directly in the wall
✅ Key benefits of subscription forefronted in the wall
✅ Metered model to allow for premium content discovery
✅ 100% visibility taking up the whole page with offers included to reduce a step in the funnel
✅ Premium content labelled to reduce frustration
❌ Additional click needed to discover other subscription offers
✅ Hybrid paywall/registration wall to increase engagement
✅ Subscription benefits listed clearly
✅ Strong value proposition fore-fronted
✅ Dynamic strategy to adapt to the reader
✅ Freemium model to balance frustration & engagement
✅ Good visibility
✅ Dynamic strategy adapts to the reader
✅ 100% paywall visibility rate with a sticky banner
✅ Clear value proposition
✅ Subscription benefits
✅ High premium content & paywall visibility rate
✅ Account creation & offers on the same page, reducing clicks
❌ No chance to discover content as this wall blocks on first visit
✅ High visibility rate
❌ Extra click needed to see the subscription offers
✅ Subscription offers in the wall
✅ 100% visibility rate (sticky wall)
❌ Hard wall doesn’t allow for content discovery
✅ 7-day free trial to increase engagement
❌ No list of benefits or chance to select our chosen subscription offer
✅ Free trial to increase engagement & allow for content discovery
✅ First-party data collection through registration
✅ Registration gives access to one article for free
✅ Sticky banner format means 100% visibility
✅ Email collection in the wall
❌ No benefits of subscription shown at this stage
✅ First-party data collection as a first step prior to the wall
❌ Can’t view any content before subscribing
✅ Subscription advantages detailed in the wall
✅ A single color represents subscription across the site
✅ Premium content labelled to reduce frustration
✅ Free registration offered before the paywall to collect data
✅ Video extracts to help users discover premium content
❌ No benefits of subscription detailed in the paywall
✅ Benefits of subscription detailed in the wall
✅ Optional paywall (with a “no thank you” button) allow for content discovery and reduces frustration
✅ Email collection as a first step
❌ No possibility to discover content prior to the paywall
✅ Premium content labelled to reduce frustration
✅ Free trial to increase engagement
✅ Well-communicated value proposition
✅ Benefits forefronted on the paywall
✅ High paywall visibility rate
❌ More work needed on their value proposition
✅ Data collected in the paywall
❌ No premium content discovery prior to being blocked
✅ High visibility rate with a sticky banner
❌ No chance to discover premium content before subscribing
✅ High visibility rate
✅ Reassurance: “Cancel anytime”
✅ Subscription offers in the paywall
✅ Benefits forefronted
❌ A lot of scrolling needed to view the whole paywall
✅ Strong value proposition
✅ Premium offers in the wall
✅ High visibility rate
✅ Registration prior to the paywall to collect data and increase engagement
✅ Photos of journalists placed in the wall to encourage readers to support ‘real’ people
✅ A single color represents subscription across the site
✅ Subscription offers placed directly in the wall
✅ High premium content and paywall visibility rate
✅ Subscription offers included in the wall
✅ “Support your local journalism!” strong value proposition
✅ Subscription offers included in the wall
✅ Strong value proposition
✅ Subscription offers presented directly in the wall
❌ Hard paywall means no premium content discovery
✅ Soft conversion strategy to increase engagement (thanks to a metered registration model)
✅ Strong value proposition
✅ Strong value proposition
❌ No benefits or subscription offers included in the wall
✅ Reassurance: “No commitment”, “Unsubscribe anytime”
✅ Additional link dedicated to students and companies
✅ Subscription offers included in the wall
❌ Scrolling needed to view the whole paywall
✅ Subscription discount highlighted
✅ List of benefits
✅ Free test with promise of being reimbursed
❌ Additional click needed to see the offers
✅ Offers integrated into the wall with one highlighted
✅ Benefits of subscription
✅ Value proposition focusing on a single benefit of subscription
✅ Offers & benefits integrated into the wall
✅ Offers in the paywall, one pre-selected
❌ Not entirely obvious the difference between the two offers
✅ Clear value proposition and supporting image
✅ Drop down to view all benefits
✅ Countdown until the end of the offer
❌ There’s a lot going on which maybe takes away from key aspects of the wall
✅ Paywall the same color as the Subscribe header button
❌ Lack of convincing value proposition
✅ Offers in the wall
✅ Clear, simple wall that ticks off the essentials
✅ 2 offers with clear difference between the two
❌ No convincing value proposition or highlighted offer
✅ Multiple offers in the wall
✅ One offer highlighted to ease decision making
✅ Almost the whole subscription landing page in the wall
✅ Unique benefits, although these could be integrated into the value proposition
✅ Illustrations to support comprehension of benefits
❌ No convincing value proposition or subscriber benefits aside from accessing content
✅ 100% visibility paywall
✅ Social proof with the number of current subscribers
✅ 100% visibility pop-up wall, although this doesn’t allow for engagement prior to the wall
✅ Matching color scheme with other subscription marketing
❌ No convincing value proposition
✅ Simple full screen banner
✅ Short text with Wired’s value proposition
Paywall best practices to takeaway:
✅ Consider a soft conversion strategy, such as registration, to increase engagement prior to fully blocking the reader
✅ Ensure users have the chance to discover the value of your premium content
✅ Communicate a strong value proposition
✅ Include brand colors, selecting a single color to represent subscription
✅ In a freemium model, label premium content to reduce frustration
✅ Integrate other funnel steps into the paywall (such as the offers, payment or data collection) to reduce clicks and potential friction points
✅ Work on optimizing paywall visibility rate, aiming to balance frustration and engagement (we found 80% to be optimal, but A/B testing is recommended to find the best visibility for your publication)
✅ Make subscription easy, such as by offering account creation through Facebook/Google or payment through PayPal or Apple
✅ If you’ve already collected key data points (such as name or content interests) make use of it to personalize the paywall and experience. For instance, you could build a subscription offer suited to content consumption habits, or adapt the value proposition to their profile
