My earlier post notes that Forbes.com now requires a subscription. Prices are $6.99 per month, $74.99 billed annually (a savings of 11%), and $139.99 billed every two years (a savings of 17%). The subscription pricing for Forbes.com is reasonable because Forbes.com has many contributors (including @taxgirl) who are producing quality content. The pricing for Forbes.com got me thinking about how I will price the membership subscription for hanisarji.com.

I will probably charge $5 per month when I make memberships to hanisarji.com available. Although Forbes.com provides greater value, it does not seem fair to compare what I would charge for my site to what Forbes.com now charges.

Charging around $5 per month seems to be the sweet spot for subscription services to websites. For example, a membership to Medium is “5/month or $50/year.” Similarly, subscribing to Club MacStories is also “$5/month or $50/year.” Also, Daniel B. Evans, a trusts and estates lawyer in Pennsylvania, charges “$15.00 every 3 Months” for a subscription to his website:

Dan Evans subscription

So, charging $5 per month in the future for a subscription to hanisarji.com is reasonable. In fact, depending on the quality and usefulness of the content, it could be just the floor:

  • Natalie Choate charges “$9 per month or $99 for yearly subscription” to her invaluable book, Retirement Benefits Planning.
  • Leimberg Information Services, Inc., which is indispensable for estate planners, charges $30 per month: “The fee of $30.00/month includes a subscription to any or all of my newsletters, plus access to the LISI members’ web site which features the searchable archives of all past newsletters, plus more !”