Participated · Equity · Jan 2019

Newspack is an Automattic-built, WordPress-oriented platform aimed at helping news organizations publish and monetize content with built-in support for subscriptions, metered paywalls and user accounts. Automattic positions it as an all-in-one solution tailored especially for local and small news outlets that lack development resources. Media organizations can apply to work with Automattic during the platform’s development phase. The service will be free during development and is expected to cost $1,000–$2,000 per month afterward. Details about product features remain thin in the announcement, but the project targets easier monetization workflows than vanilla WordPress. The company notes larger publishers may not necessarily move to Newspack, while smaller single-topic or local sites could benefit from the multiple monetization options.