paywall
Digital subscription barrier
A paywall is a barrier on a website or app that restricts access to content unless you pay—typically through a subscription.
Some paywalls are hard, blocking everything; others are soft or metered, allowing a few free articles before demanding payment: I hit the paywall after reading three stories this month.
The word combines pay with wall, evoking a barrier to entry.
State of belonging
- subscriberOne who enrolls regularly
- subscriptionPaid recurring access
- premiumAdded cost for better
- monthlyOccurring each lunar cycle
annual · renewal · autorenewal · billing · dues · fee · upgrade · downgrade
Authentication act or screen
- sign-inVerify identity for access
- authenticateConfirm as genuine
- credentialsEvidence of qualification or identity
- unlockOpen a secured closure
gated · restricted · blocked · locked · member · register · signup · enrollment
Written piece or grammatical word
- newsReports of recent events
- journalismNews gathering and dissemination
- newspaperPrinted periodical of current events
- magazineBound periodical with articles
research · academic · journal · archive · exclusive · premium content · longform · investigative
Something blocking the way
- hindranceBarrier to progress
- impedimentThing that obstructs progress
- blockadeSealing off a place
- gateHinged barrier in fence
restriction · limitation · constraint · boundary · threshold · curtailment · prohibition · rationing
Business income total
- advertisingPaid promotional communication
- adsPaid promotional messages
- micropaymentVery small online transaction
- donationVoluntary charitable gift
patronage · crowdfunding · Patreon · sponsorship · commercialization · income · earnings · profit
membership
State of belonging
- subscriberOne who enrolls regularly
- subscriptionPaid recurring access
- premiumAdded cost for better
monthly · annual · renewal · autorenewal · billing · dues · fee · upgrade · downgrade · tiered
login
Authentication act or screen
- sign-inVerify identity for access
- authenticateConfirm as genuine
- credentialsEvidence of qualification or identity
unlock · gated · restricted · blocked · locked · member · register · signup · enrollment · account
article
Written piece or grammatical word
- newsReports of recent events
- journalismNews gathering and dissemination
- newspaperPrinted periodical of current events
magazine · research · academic · journal · archive · exclusive · premium content · longform · investigative · editorial
obstacle
Something blocking the way
- hindranceBarrier to progress
- impedimentThing that obstructs progress
- blockadeSealing off a place
gate · restriction · limitation · constraint · boundary · threshold · curtailment · prohibition · rationing · quota
revenue
Business income total
- advertisingPaid promotional communication
- adsPaid promotional messages
- micropaymentVery small online transaction
donation · patronage · crowdfunding · Patreon · sponsorship · commercialization · income · earnings · profit · business model
- access restrictionspassword, geo-block, IP ban, age gate, content filter
- game termslevel, score, player, win, lose
- Digital Ageapp, blog, emoji, hashtag, meme
- news medianews agency, newspaper, documentary, article, news photo
- newspapersnewspaper, headlines, headline, news, articles
- accessaccess, authorization, credentials, exclusive access, insider access
paywallfree access
Entry without charge
open access · ad-supported · public access · freemium · free tier
paywallopen source
Publicly accessible code
public domain · Creative Commons · free press · Wikipedia · copyleft