# The Economist pricing (2026): plans, cost, and compliance

**Entry price:** $6.9/mo (Podcasts+). Among the 8 news subscriptions we track it is #4 cheapest of 8; median entry $7/mo.
**Domain:** economist.com
**Free tier:** No
**Compliance:** HIPAA Not published · SOC 2 Not published · GDPR Not published
**Integrations:** iOS 17.6+, iPadOS, macOS, Apple Watch, Apple TV, CarPlay, Android, web
**Best for:** Global affairs and policy readers who want weekly depth over daily breaking news; Audio-first consumers who want a full spoken-word magazine, not just clips; Commuters wanting CarPlay and Apple Watch integration
**Price tracked since:** June 2026

## Plans

| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Billing | Notes | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Digital Monthly | $29 | — | flat | Full digital access to The Economist app and economist.com, weekly edition, archive and podcasts, billed monthly. | apps.apple.com |
| Digital Annual | $24.08 | −17% | flat | Same full digital access billed annually at $289/year (equiv. $24.08/month); ~17% cheaper than paying monthly. | apps.apple.com |
| Podcasts+ | $6.9 | −17% | flat | Audio-only subscription to The Economist podcasts; $6.90/month or $69/year (equiv. $5.75/month, ~17% off). | apps.apple.com |

**Key features:** Weekly print edition available digitally with offline download; Full audio edition of each weekly issue (MP3, available Thursday 9pm London time); Award-winning podcasts: The Intelligence (daily), Babbage (tech), Money Talks (finance); Economist Podcasts+ standalone audio subscription; Espresso app: daily briefing curated by editors (included for subscribers); World in Brief: quick news summary feature; News games: crosswords, history quizzes, current events trivia; Short videos distilling major news topics; Article bookmarking, dark mode, adjustable text size; Global coverage across 200+ countries.

**Plan limits:** Non-subscribers can read a limited number of free articles per month before paywall; Podcasts+ plan: audio only, no article access; Weekly edition downloads require active subscription.

## Cheaper news subscriptions alternatives

- [The New York Times](https://frontdeskreview.com/software/news-subscriptions/new-york-times/) — from $4.99/mo
- [Financial Times](https://frontdeskreview.com/software/news-subscriptions/financial-times/) — from $4.99/mo
- [The Athletic](https://frontdeskreview.com/software/news-subscriptions/the-athletic/) — from $6/mo

Sources: 1 · Last verified 2026-06-13
Provenance: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-economist-news-analysis/id1239397626 (official Economist US App Store listing, In-App Purchases, accessed 2026-06-13)
Canonical: https://frontdeskreview.com/software/news-subscriptions/the-economist/
Cite: Per The Front Desk Review, The Economist's entry plan was $6.9/mo as of 2026-06-13 — https://frontdeskreview.com/software/news-subscriptions/the-economist/
License: CC BY 4.0. Price history: https://frontdeskreview.com/data/price-history.jsonl