Print vs Digital Magazine Subscriptions Compared

Readers considering a print vs. digital magazine subscription often weigh the article format and relative costs.

First issues often arrive weeks later in print than the date billed.

By contrast, digital access typically begins the day the subscription starts. For readers who always want the current issue in hand, digital offers immediate access. However, new digital subscribers may not have automatic library access to past issues.

Any new monthly magazine subscription starts with the issue that arrives earliest after the subscription order date. For example, a subscriber to COINage Magazine ordering in December, could receive the January issue, with issues continuing from that point, until..the subscription ends.

Whether a subscription ends isn't always clear, and renewal features that trigger a default on expiration may be a surprise. Magazines.com sells its print and digital subscriptions as auto-renew, and offers a digital magazine library. If, to save a credit card charge, a reader turns auto-renew off, the subscription halts at the end of the current subscription period, without future access to the digital library.

Publications such as COINage Magazine can't convert a print subscription into a digital subscription and back again. They do send an email 10 days before the subscription expiry, stating the renewal rate and applicable term. That's typically a yearly subscription, and any service charges or discount upon renewal are the subscriber's burden.

The Atlantic, New York Magazine and The Week cite arrival timeframes of 4-8 weeks. When a subscription becomes giftable, as with New York Magazine, only the print issues extend past the expiry date. Digital access ends at the end of the annual term, while print delivery continues until all 26 issues of an annual gift subscription are received.

Renewal features can be another surprise, with cancellations effective only for future charges, and no backward-looking retroactive credit for any fraction of the subscription term already "used". This becomes clear when reading a combined print and digital subscription from the same provider, because the print subscription continues past the expiry date i.e. the issues the user already paid for.

These additional resources should be considered in the total product value over time, but do not appear in product pricing comparisons.

Subscribers who want the physical delivery of print copies will continue to receive issues on delivery as long as there are issues to get. The article arrives at the subscriber's door, front desk, or PO Box. Print in hand balances the appreciated convenience of always-on digital access, but it too often comes at a much higher rate across the subscription term. The print hardcopy affords a more "dedicated reading time", with a defined display area that is easier on the eye (no brightness management or costly telework-related battery charging issues) and balanced more like traditional postal services.

In summary, whatever you choose for the way you choose to consume content and participate in the subscription market, make the choice that matches your reading habit. Choose the digital subscription with conditions that ensure your preferred renewal, whether auto-renewal every year or your choice of annually or otherwise, while at the same time, choose print if you want the magazine issue on schedule, in the one place you will use it, and delivered to you - without having to turn on a tablet, search for a publication logo, or remember to sign in and download a new issue every week.