Masthead · Reader memberships

Read the archive without a meter.

Every Masthead reader gets three dossiers a month. Members read without the counter. That's the whole difference.

01 — The two plans

Two plans. One difference.

Masthead doesn't gate features behind the membership — a free reader and a member use the exact same concierge, see the exact same citations, get the exact same commerce cards. The only thing that changes is the counter.

Free reader

€0forever

Three dossiers a month.

Enough to see what Masthead is. Enough for the occasional question. The counter resets on the first of each month.

—Three composed dossiers every calendar month
—Every dossier cites contributing publishers by name
—Full commerce cards, full handoff links
—One concierge thread at a time

Start with three →

MemberRecommended

€12per month

or€120per year — three months on the house

Unlimited dossiers.

The counter goes away. Ask as many questions as you'd like, as often as you'd like. Same concierge, no meter.

—Unlimited composed dossiers, no monthly cap
—Every dossier cites contributing publishers by name
—Full commerce cards, full handoff links
—One concierge thread at a time
—Cancel from your account — no retention calls, no dark pattern

Become a member →

Founding-member pricing.

€12 a month or €120 a year — locked for the first 1,000 members for as long as they remain a member. Founding-member pricing applies regardless of any future rate increase for new members.

Three months on the house at signup, against a card on file. After the trial, founding members continue at €12/€120; later members pay the standard rate at the time they join.

Cancel anytime via your account.

02 — A few things worth knowing

Before you sign up.

Does my subscription money go to the publishers?: Not directly — publisher payouts come from attributable commerce (affiliate clicks, sponsored dossiers, concierge handoffs, API licensing). Subscription revenue funds the concierge itself: hosting, composition, reader acquisition. As subscriptions grow, the platform fee on commerce comes down, and more of every attributable dollar flows back to the publishers whose archives you're reading.
Can I cancel any time?: Any time, from your account. You keep member access through the end of the paid period, then revert to the three-a-month tier. No retention calls, no hidden fee, no ten-step cancellation flow. If you cancel on the annual plan we pro-rate the refund.
Is there a free trial?: Every reader already has a free tier — three dossiers a month, forever. If you've used those three and it felt like you'd want more, that's the signal to join. If it didn't, the free tier is yours to keep.
Do members get different answers?: No. The concierge composes the same dossier for a member and a free reader. Same retrieval, same citations, same commerce cards, same house voice. The membership removes a counter. It doesn't buy a better answer.
What happens to my conversations if I cancel?: They stay in your account. Concierge threads you composed while a member don't get locked behind a paywall — what you've already read is yours. Only new dossiers count against the three-a-month tier.