We adopted the subscription model in late 2002; it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. This model makes us independent of the volatile (and surveillance-driven) advertising market and aligns our interests with those of our readers. But it does depend on support from those readers; if you have not yet subscribed to LWN, please consider doing so now — our subscribers are the only reason we continue to exist.
We have only increased prices twice in the 24 years since adopting this model; the last increase was in early 2022, nearly five years ago. That increase helped to keep us on a stable footing, and a lot more besides. We were able to hire Daroc Alden and Joe Brockmeier, and they have greatly increased the depth and range of our coverage. The LWN site has been improved in a number of ways, with features like articles in EPUB format, markdown formatting for comments, the kernel source database, full-text email and RSS feeds, dark-mode support, the public topic list, and more. A lot of effort has also gone into keeping the site alive, responsive, and reader-friendly in the face of escalating scraper attacks.
Since the 2022 price change, according to the undoubtedly reliable numbers from the US government, consumer-price inflation has added up to almost exactly 20%. Some costs (health insurance, naturally) have gone up rather more than that. We will be matching the inflation number, though, and increase prices by approximately 20%; the new monthly prices will be:
Level Price Starving hacker $6.00 Professional hacker $11.00 Project leader $19.00 Maniacal supporter $55.00
Prices for group subscriptions will be increased by the same amount.
All subscriptions purchased ahead of the change will remain valid through the original expiration date. The policy for individual monthly subscriptions is a little different this time; all monthly subscriptions that were active before this announcement went out will be charged at the old rate for the following six months. Reminders will be sent out to monthly subscribers before the new rates take effect.
There are few things we like less than raising prices, which is why we have done it so rarely. It would be far better to keep LWN as inexpensive as possible and make it up in volume. Subscriber growth has stalled, though, in recent years, making that strategy unworkable for now. We are working on schemes to bring in more subscribers again, but that is a long-term process; getting there requires some short-term help.
In January, LWN will begin its 30th year of publication. There is really
only one reason why we are still here and vital after all that time: it is
because our readers have always supported us. There are not many people
who have had the good fortune to write for such a loyal community, and we
are deeply grateful for it. Thank you, as always, for supporting LWN.
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