The Atlantic entered the subscription market relatively late, launching its paywall in 2019. In 2021, to counter stagnating growth, it introduced a 30-day digital trial to attract new subscribers. 

Between 2022 and 2023, the team refined paywall features and checkout flows to boost conversions. By 2024, The Atlantic reached a key milestone and acquired 1 million paying digital and print subscribers. 

“We became profitable for the first time in a pretty long time. Our onboarding strategies led to a 4 percentage point increase in retention,” said Mariah Craddick, Executive Director of Product at The Atlantic.

She was speaking at WAN-IFRA’s recent Congress in Kraków.

Annual-only model drives growth

The Atlantic occupies a unique position in the market, focusing less on breaking news and more on in-depth perspective and analysis. “When people think about The Atlantic, why people come to The Atlantic is, first and foremost, for our journalism,” Craddick noted.

The Atlantic’s product offering is structured around an annual model. It offers three subscription tiers:

• Digital-only plan ($79.99)
• Print and digital bundle ($89.99)
• Premium ad-free tier with bonus digital subscription sharing option ($120)

Subscribers can either pay full price upfront – referred to internally as “same-day start” – or opt into the digital trial. The publication has maintained strong subscriber metrics, including: 

• Above-average retention rate of over 70 percent
• Overall subscriber base growth of 15 percent year over year
• Industry peer average decline of about 4.5 percent

Pricing is another area where The Atlantic differs from its peers, she said, with the digital-only base plan priced conservatively at $79.99 annually.

Craddick noted that the company has used dynamic pricing models for several years.

“More recently, we’ve been experimenting a little bit with dynamic acquisition pricing – either offering prices lower or higher (than what’s mentioned above) based on behavioural data that we have.”

Measuring long-term subscriber value

To understand if subscribers are truly finding value, The Atlantic relies on data beyond basic conversion and retention rates. The team focuses on early signs of engagement – a key predictor of long-term loyalty.

Craddick shared two important metrics The Atlantic uses to gauge subscriber health:

• Reader State: This proprietary metric tracks how frequently subscribers engage with content. Unlike breaking news outlets, The Atlantic doesn’t expect readers to consume multiple articles at once. Instead, it defines success as a subscriber returning on several different days within a 30-day period. Those who read on at least four separate days a month tend to develop a weekly habit – a strong predictor of staying subscribed for a year. The goal is to grow the share of readers in the “Engaged” and “Core Reader” categories.
• First Best Action: This measures whether new subscribers take any of three key actions within their first week, which correlate with longer-term engagement and retention – visiting the site, downloading the app, and signing up for a newsletter.

Subscribers who complete at least one of these actions are more likely to remain active by days 30 and 90, boosting their chances of staying beyond a year.

WAN-IFRA Members can access all of Mariah Craddick‘s presentation slides, as well as those from other speakers at Congress, on our Knowledge Hub.

From access to extras: What subscribers get

The Atlantic breaks down its subscription benefits into four key areas: 

• Access: Unlimited entry to everything on theatlantic.com, so subscribers can dive into all the journalism without limits.
• Manage: The many ways to enjoy content – via the app, narrated articles, newsletters, and digital issues – giving readers flexibility in how they consume stories.
• Utility: Helpful tools like saving articles, creating reading lists, and unlimited article gifting, so subscribers can share their favourite content with friends and family without paywalls getting in the way.
• Bonus benefits: Extras that add delight, including games, podcasts, live events, and exclusive merch like the Atlantic A tote bag.

Over time, The Atlantic has expanded its offerings: the print magazine now publishes monthly again; the company hosts live events; it is active on platforms like TikTok; the newsletter lineup continues to grow; and subscriber-only podcasts – including one with Apple Podcasts – will launch soon. Subscribers can share unlimited articles without gifting caps.

Boosting retention: Onboarding, feedback and future bets

To encourage early engagement, The Atlantic uses an onsite onboarding experience that prompts new subscribers to download the app, sign up for newsletters, or start a personal reading list. Those who complete onboarding are significantly more likely to stay, said Craddick, noting a 4 percentage point increase in retention.

The company also collects qualitative feedback from subscribers through surveys and customer support. 

Looking ahead, The Atlantic is investing in its app, expecting it to become the primary platform as AI, search, and social media trends reshape how audiences discover content. Its gaming suite is growing too, following the recent purchase of Bracket City, with more titles in the pipeline.

Community-building and personalisation are also priorities. The company is exploring new ways to connect subscribers with authors and offer exclusive features that stand out from aggregators like Apple News. These innovations are being tested through Atlantic Labs, the dedicated R&D hub launched last year.