One pass for every paywall

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. Many ad-model wishes excluded; split between flat bundle and micropayments.

1. Jul 2025Wants RSS-style reading with micropayments, paying per article in their own interface rather than full subscriptions. Read it: a comment in “12ft.io Taken Down”
2. Jan 2025Wants one payment giving access to most paywalled articles instead of subscribing to each paper. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Why isn't there a startup that lets you pay to read paywalled articles?”
3. Dec 2024Would put $10 monthly into a pool paying many smaller tech writers and channels, ad-free like Apple News. Read it: a comment in “The correct amount of ads is zero”
4. Nov 2024Wants a Netflix-style service for journalism: cheap, broad, personalized articles that fund newsrooms at scale. Read it: a comment in “Anti-scale: a response to AI in journalism”
5. Aug 2021Would pay for unrestricted, ad-free reading across all newspapers, instead of a £120 yearly subscription per paper. Read it: a comment in “Silicon Valley gives up on reality – wants us to use their terrible alternative”
6. Dec 2019Says a bulk subscription service for paid websites would draw payers, versus managing many subscriptions or ad tracking. Read it: a comment in “The Great Cannon has been deployed again”
7. Nov 2019Would pay for one subscription covering major newspapers like NYT, Washington Post and Bloomberg. Read it: a comment in “Jimmy Wales has quietly launched a Facebook rival”
8. Sep 2019Wants a Netflix for news so one payment opens many publications, tired of buying one limited subscription. Read it: a comment in “Saudi Attack Makes Electric Vehicles Even More Important”
9. Jul 2019Wants adjustable weekly bundles of chosen publications with minimal tracking and less clickbait headlines. Read it: a comment in “Google unlocks 33% of publisher paywalls on July 30”
10. Jul 2019Wants a single monthly fee covering subscriptions to the top ten paywalled news sites. Read it: a comment in “Welcome to the K-12 Surveillance State”
11. Feb 2018Would pay about 50 cents per article through a browser wallet for a few days of access. Read it: a comment in “Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund (2008)”
12. Jun 2017Would pay around 50 cents per article, via a broker, to read news from many sources. Read it: a comment in “WSJ Ends Google Users' Free Ride, Then Fades in Search Results”
13. May 2017Wants a metered platform where a monthly fee is split among content providers according to what they visited. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Are ads the only way to “pay” for content on the web?”
14. Apr 2017Wants a flat monthly fee for ad-free articles from many providers, with no tracking, in a tailorable feed. Read it: a comment in “The Guardian Pulls Out of Facebook’s Instant Articles and Apple News”
15. Mar 2017Wants clutter-free news from many sources through one service that splits revenue by what they read. Read it: a comment in “LA Times and ads”
16. Dec 2016Wants a service that makes paywalls go away. Read it: a comment in “The Last Diplomat”
17. Nov 2016Wants one service giving limited access across many news outlets instead of ten separate accounts. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Why is there no netflix for news?”
18. Jan 2016Wishes for a universal subscription service as an answer to the ad blocking fight. Read it: a comment in “Adblock Plus un-invited from IAB conference”