---
name: Metered paywall
slug: metered-paywall
category: pattern
status: published
created: 2026-08-21T00:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-08-21T00:00:00.000Z
definition: A paywall that grants a fixed number of free items per period and
  counts down publicly, so the barrier arrives only after the reader is
  invested.
aliases:
  - name: soft paywall
    source: community
  - name: freemium meter
    source: community
  - name: article counter
    source: community
  - name: leaky paywall
    source: community
tags:
  - commerce
relations:
  contrastWith:
    - feature-gate
    - paywall
  variantOf: []
  partOf: []
  seeAlso: []
implementations: []
sources: []
demo: inline
exhibit: false
useWhen: you get three free articles a month and a counter says so
---

A metered paywall is a wall with a count in front of it. The reader gets some fixed
number of items in some fixed period, three articles a month is the classic shape, and
the interface says out loud how many are left. Nothing is blocked until the allowance is
spent, and when it is spent the wall goes up on the next item rather than on the one
being read. The meter is the whole design: without it the reader has no idea a limit
exists until they hit it, which is a hard block with extra steps.

Three barriers get confused with each other, and the difference is what is being
withheld. A [paywall](/paywall) blocks content the reader has already reached and asks
for payment before they may finish it. A [feature gate](/feature-gate) leaves a
capability visible inside a product the reader is already using and names the plan that
unlocks it. A metered paywall sits between them: the content is free until a counted
allowance runs out, so the same article is open on the first of the month and closed on
the twentieth. Publishers reach for it because a reader who has read three good pieces
is a different prospect from a reader who was stopped at the first paragraph.

The honesty of the pattern lives entirely in the count. A meter that says three and
gives three, resets on a stated date, and shows its remaining balance on every page is a
promise the reader can plan around. A meter that quietly drops from five to three, or
that counts a page the reader bounced off in two seconds, or that reads "1 free article
left" for weeks because the number is decoration rather than state, is a countdown timer
wearing a meter's clothes. Say the reset date, count only what was actually read, and
let the number reach zero and stay there rather than resetting on a fresh browser
session, which teaches readers to clear cookies instead of subscribing.

The wall itself should keep the reader's place. Leaving the headline and the opening
paragraphs visible behind the panel is not a tease, it is the difference between "you
have run out" and "you have been ejected", and it lets someone decide about this piece
rather than about the abstract idea of a subscription. Everything the panel says should
be checkable: the allowance, how much of it is gone, when it comes back, and what the
subscription costs. A meter is a public number, and the moment a reader suspects it is
not the real one, the count stops working as an argument.