Case Study: Austin Monitor doubles subscribers and boosts readership in 18 months with Leaky Paywall

How A Local Newspaper’s Metered Paywall Doubled Its Subscribers In 18 Months

The Austin Monitor, an online news publisher covering local politics and business in Austin, Texas, struggled with a hard paywall that kept valuable content hidden and stunted audience growth. To attract search and social traffic, convert casual readers to subscribers, and monetize a deep archive, they turned to a metered paywall solution from Leaky Paywall.

Leaky Paywall implemented a flexible metered model (five free articles per month, shareable links, tiered subscriptions including archive/premium and corporate/bulk options, and MailChimp integration) plus controls for “always premium” articles. In the first 18 months with Leaky Paywall the Monitor saw a 68% rise in general readership and a 61% increase in paid subscriptions, effectively more than doubling their reach and revenue.

Austin Monitor