200+ paywall examples to inspire your subscription strategy

Paywalls screenshotted as readers see them, from publishers around the world. Collected since October 2022 and added to every month.

Click on any paywall to open it in full size.

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 across site

✅ In a freemium model, consider labelling 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