News Subscriptions · pricing · Updated September 2026
The Economist pricing (2026)
The Economist starts at $6.90/mo (Podcasts+) as checked on 2026-09-03, read from apps.apple.com — the public source it was captured from, not a The Economist page; 3 plans. Best for Global affairs and policy readers who want weekly depth over daily breaking news. Every figure below links to its source and the date we captured it.
At a glance
- Entry price: $6.90/mo (Podcasts+) · 17% off with annual billing
- Free tier: No
- Compliance: HIPAA — · SOC 2 — · GDPR —
- 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
As of · every figure below links to its source STALE · 2026-09-03
The Economist plans & pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Billing | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Monthly STALE · 2026-09-03 | $29 | — | Flat monthly | Full digital access to The Economist app and economist.com, weekly edition, archive and podcasts, billed monthly. | apps.apple.com |
| Digital Annual STALE · 2026-09-03 | $24.08 | — | Flat monthly | Same full digital access billed annually at $289/year (equiv. $24.08/month); ~17% cheaper than paying monthly. | apps.apple.com |
| Podcasts+ STALE · 2026-09-03 | $6.9 | −17% | Flat monthly | Audio-only subscription to The Economist podcasts; $6.90/month or $69/year (equiv. $5.75/month, ~17% off). | apps.apple.com |
Last verified 2026-09-03. STALE marks a plan we have not re-checked at its source in over 30 days. Every plan above is marked — we flag rather than silently retain. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-economist-news-analysis/id1239397626 (official Economist US App Store listing, In-App Purchases, accessed 2026-06-13) This note predates a correction to the plans above, from 2026-09-11; the table holds the corrected figures.See the corrections.
Price changes
Price on record
$6.90/moFirst on record 2026-06-27
A new dated entry is stamped here each time the price moves — the record builds itself.
Tracked since June 2026. No change record has cleared two sources yet, so nothing is published on the wire.
Corrections to this record
Changes we made to our own record of The Economist, newest first: a figure read again on the vendor's page, a plan it no longer lists, a note. None of them is a price change by The Economist. Every correction on the site is in the corrections log.
-
Digital Annual. Correction 2026-09-11: The annual discount of 17% was removed from "Digital Annual". The recorded $24.08/mo is this plan's own note's $289 yearly total over 12 months, so the saving is already inside the figure, while the page prints the percentage as a further discount off the same row — offering a reader $19.99/mo. Removed rather than moved: no rate above it is named anywhere in the note. The note still describes the term in full. No price changed.
Capabilities
Integrations: iOS 17.6+, iPadOS, macOS, Apple Watch, Apple TV, CarPlay, Android, web.
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.
Frequently asked questions
How much does The Economist cost?
The Economist starts at $6.90/mo (Podcasts+); it has 3 published plans. Verified 2026-09-03.
Is The Economist cheaper billed annually?
Yes. The Economist publishes a 17% discount for paying annually (on the Podcasts+ plan). Verified 2026-09-03.
What are cheaper alternatives to The Economist?
Cheaper news subscriptions than The Economist (entry $6.90/mo) include The New York Times at $4.99/mo, Financial Times at $4.99/mo, The Athletic at $6/mo. Verified 2026-09-03.
Does The Economist support HIPAA?
The Economist's public pages do not say whether it supports HIPAA.
Does The Economist have a free plan?
No — The Economist publishes no free tier.
The Economist vs alternatives
Compare all news subscriptions · The Economist alternatives · Open data · MCP
Cheaper news subscriptions alternatives
- The Athletic from $6/mo
- The New York Times from $4.99/mo
- Financial Times from $4.99/mo
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This standing as a plaque
The Economist currently holds a gold deskmark here — Rank 2 of 8 · News Subscriptions. Anyone may show it. There is nothing to apply for, nothing to pay, and displaying it changes no score: the standing comes from the published algorithm, which never reads commission data. We never ask anyone to show it, and its link carries rel="nofollow".
The image is drawn from our live data, so it follows the standing rather than freezing it: if The Economist moves up or down a tier, the plaque on your own site says so at our next publish. Nothing is tracked beyond the ordinary web-server log that records any image request.