The Atlantic has introduced Premium Plus, a new subscription option that combines friends-and-family sharing with added perks. The publisher announced the tier on January 14, 2026, calling it its first new subscription tier since launching digital subscriptions in late 2019. Currently, per The Atlantic, it has “well over 1.4 million subscriptions.”

The Atlantic says Premium Plus offers unlimited access for up to four people, and describes sharing as “one of the most requested features among existing subscribers.” The plan also includes a keepsake coffee-table book created for Premium Plus subscribers and an updated version of The Atlantic tote.

Pricing and tier context

Premium Plus is priced at $199 per year. The Atlantic describes Premium Plus as a Print & Digital subscription with ad-free web and app access for the primary account holder, plus three additional digital subscriptions that can be shared with friends or family members.

In the same announcement, The Atlantic listed its other annual packages as:

• Premium at $120/year, which includes sharing via one gift subscription
• Print + Digital starting at $89/year
• Digital starting at $79/year
• The company also offers an academic rate for students and educators.

 The help center notes that “Premium” is a legacy plan and that Premium Plus is a separate plan with different features.

INSIDER TAKE

Premium Plus is best read as a stickiness play: expanding the number of people who rely on one paid subscription, which can make cancellation harder in practice. When a subscription becomes shared utility inside a household or friend group, the payer’s cost of churn rises because cancellation affects multiple users at once.

The Atlantic’s own framing supports that interpretation. It says sharing was “one of the most requested features among existing subscribers,” and it paired sharing with tangible perks for the primary account holder (the keepsake book and tote). That combination strengthens perceived value while keeping the paid relationship anchored to a single primary account.

There is also a measurement and reporting angle executives should note, even if they are not in media. Axios flagged that it is still unclear how The Atlantic will count additional users added through Premium Plus in its subscription totals and reported the company will follow Alliance for Audited Media guidance for auditing figures. Shared-access plans can create definitional ambiguity if teams are not disciplined about whether “subscriber” means paid accounts, active users, or something else.

Finally, The Atlantic’s move aligns with a broader pattern in news subscriptions toward multi-user plans that preserve individualized access. The New York Times introduced family subscription options in 2025 built around a shared billed plan with up to four individuals and separate logins.