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Short answer: The New York Times is the broader multiproduct subscription. Its All Access plan is the only digital New York Times plan that includes News, and it bundles access to Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter and The Athletic. The Washington Post offers two documented digital tiers: Core for unlimited website and app access, and Premium, which adds more apps, sharing, a monthly digital pass, e-books and archives.
Choose the Times when you want several distinct products in one account. Choose the Post when your priority is Washington Post journalism plus account sharing, archive access and monthly guest passes. Prices and introductory offers change, so treat the figures below as dated observations rather than permanent rates.
At a glance: the important differences
| Question | New York Times | Washington Post |
|---|---|---|
| Which plan includes the publisher’s news coverage? | All Access. The Times says it is the only digital subscription that includes News. | Both Core and Premium provide the Post’s website journalism; free readers receive only a limited number of articles each month. |
| What extras are bundled? | All Access is the multiproduct route to News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter and The Athletic. | Premium adds all Post apps, three extra accounts, one 30-Day Digital Pass per month, e-books and archives. |
| Can you buy individual products? | Yes. Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter and The Athletic are sold separately, with explicit exclusions. | The documented package information does not describe equivalent standalone games or recipe products. |
| How many people can share? | A Family Subscription supports up to three secondary subscribers, each with a separate account and login. The listed family types are All Access Family and Games Family. | Premium includes three extra accounts and one 30-Day Digital Pass that can be given to one person each month. |
| Are archives and e-books included? | The Times documentation covered here does not state that All Access includes the Post’s archive or e-book benefits. | Premium explicitly includes full Washington Post archives and downloads of selected e-books by Pulitzer Prize-winning Post journalists. |
| Is the introductory price the renewal price? | Do not assume so; check the current checkout screen. | No. The Post’s terms allow price changes and conversion from a promotional rate to the regular rate. |
What a New York Times subscription includes
The Times sells a family of products rather than a single undifferentiated digital pass. The key distinction is whether your subscription includes News. The Times Help Center states: “All Access is the only digital New York Times subscription that includes access to News.” A Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter or Athletic subscription by itself should therefore not be treated as a news subscription.
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All Access: the multiproduct bundle
All Access is the Times’ broadest digital route. The company’s 2025 annual report describes its digital-only bundle as including the digital news product, The Athletic, Audio, Cooking, Games and Wirecutter. In practical terms, one All Access account is intended for readers who want the newspaper plus the publisher’s specialist products instead of choosing each one separately.
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The bundle is especially useful if different members of a household use different products: one person can read reporting, another can use the recipe database, and another can follow teams or solve puzzles. The exact price, billing interval and promotional eligibility are shown on the subscription screen for your account, location and platform; the Times help material does not publish one universal consumer list price.
Games
The Games subscription covers The Crossword, Wordle, Spelling Bee and other word and logic games. It also includes past puzzles and archives, statistics and streak tracking, and Wordle Bot for reviewing Wordle play.
Games-only has a defined boundary. The official product description says it does not include the annual Puzzle Mania special section, News, Cooking, Wirecutter, Audio or The Athletic. If your goal is news access, buying Games separately will not provide it.
Cooking
Cooking provides the complete New York Times Cooking recipe database rather than a limited selection. Its tools include printing and sharing recipes, metric conversion, Recipe Box folders and search, and private notes attached to recipes. These features matter if you are organizing a personal collection or adapting recipes for different measurements.
Cooking-only excludes News, Games, Wirecutter, Audio and The Athletic. A Cooking subscription is therefore a focused recipe product, not a smaller version of All Access.
Audio
Audio includes full access to more than 40 shows, early access to new Serial Productions shows and narrated articles. Listening is not confined to one app: the service works through the Times News app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other supported platforms.
Audio-only excludes News, Games, Cooking, Wirecutter and The Athletic. Someone subscribing only for podcasts should not expect access to the newspaper or the other Times products.
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Wirecutter includes unlimited Wirecutter access, Wirecutter articles surfaced in the News app for iPhone and Android, daily expert-curated deals, more than 1,000 up-to-date independent reviews and personal lists for saving recommendations.
Wirecutter-only excludes News, Games, Cooking, Audio and The Athletic. The product is designed for people who primarily want buying advice and deal coverage, not the general news product.
The Athletic
The Athletic subscription supplies personalized sports coverage built around the teams, clubs and leagues you follow. It covers hundreds of professional and college teams across more than 47 North American markets and all 20 English Premier League clubs, with live score updates and subscriber-only newsletters.
The Athletic-only subscription excludes News, Games, Cooking, Audio and Wirecutter. Sports access alone is not a substitute for All Access when you also need the Times’ reporting or other products.
Family subscriptions
A Times Family Subscription is paid for by one primary subscriber and provides access for up to three additional subscribers. Each secondary subscriber receives a unique account and login rather than sharing the primary person’s credentials. The two family types listed by the Times are All Access Family and Games Family.
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That structure supports four people in total when the primary account and all three secondary slots are used. It also allows each person to keep separate preferences and activity, subject to the terms of the selected family product.
What a Washington Post digital subscription includes
The Washington Post documents two digital packages: Core and Premium. Both are paid alternatives to the Post’s metered free access, but Premium is differentiated mainly by apps, sharing and library-style benefits rather than by a separate news section.
Free and limited access
Readers without a subscription can view a limited number of articles each month and can sign up for newsletters. Once the monthly article limit is reached, a subscription is required for continued reading. The exact meter or offer can vary by account, geography, device and promotion, so a free visit does not establish a fixed number that applies to everyone.
Core
Core provides unlimited content access on the Washington Post website in any web browser and full access to the Washington Post app. For a reader who mainly uses a laptop, phone browser or the standard Post app and does not need guest accounts or archives, Core supplies the central paid benefit: continued access to Post journalism without the free article limit.
Premium
Premium includes everything described for Core, then adds several account and content benefits:
- Unlimited access on Washington Post websites.
- Access to all Washington Post apps on any device.
- Three extra accounts that can be shared with friends or family members.
- One 30-Day Digital Pass each month to give to one friend or family member.
- Downloads of top-rated e-books from Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists.
- Full access to the Washington Post archives.
The extra accounts and the monthly pass are separate sharing mechanisms. The three accounts are ongoing seats associated with the Premium subscription, while the 30-Day Digital Pass is a temporary invitation that renews as a monthly allowance under the package terms.
New York Times and Washington Post: feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | New York Times All Access | Washington Post Core | Washington Post Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| News access | Yes; All Access is the only Times digital plan that includes News. | Unlimited Post website content and full access to the Post app. | Everything in Core, plus the Premium app and account benefits. |
| Games | Games included as part of the multiproduct bundle. | Not described as a bundled standalone games service. | Not described as a bundled standalone games service. |
| Recipes | Cooking included, with the full recipe database and cooking tools. | No equivalent recipe product stated. | No equivalent recipe product stated. |
| Audio | Audio included, with more than 40 shows, early Serial Productions access and narrated articles. | No equivalent audio catalog stated. | No equivalent audio catalog stated. |
| Product reviews | Wirecutter included, with unlimited access, deals, personal lists and more than 1,000 independent reviews. | No equivalent product-review service stated. | No equivalent product-review service stated. |
| Sports | The Athletic included, with personalized team coverage, scores and newsletters. | No equivalent sports product stated. | No equivalent sports product stated. |
| Additional accounts | Up to three secondary subscribers through a Family Subscription. | Not listed. | Three extra accounts. |
| Guest pass | Not stated in the Times product details covered here. | Not listed. | One 30-Day Digital Pass per month. |
| Archives | Not stated as an All Access benefit in the Times documentation covered here. | Not listed as a Core benefit. | Full Washington Post archives. |
| E-books | Not stated as an All Access benefit in the Times documentation covered here. | Not listed. | Downloads of selected e-books by Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists. |
Sharing: which approach fits a household?
Choose Times Family when everyone wants separate Times products
Times Family is built around up to three secondary subscribers with their own logins. It is the cleaner arrangement when household members need independent access to a mix of News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter and The Athletic. The available family type matters: All Access Family is the multiproduct option, while Games Family is focused on puzzles.
Choose Post Premium when you need accounts plus a guest pass
Premium offers three extra accounts and one 30-Day Digital Pass every month. That combination is useful when three regular people need continuing access and you also want to lend temporary access to someone else. Core does not list these sharing benefits.
Neither publisher’s documentation here says that a single ordinary login should be passed among multiple people. Use the designated family accounts or Premium extra accounts instead, and check the current subscriber agreement for eligibility and household rules.
Prices, introductory offers and renewal charges
Washington Post price observation
A checkout page observed in 2026 displayed “$6 every four weeks for the first year” alongside a shown “$19” reference price. This was a promotional checkout display, not a guaranteed permanent price. The terms allow charges to change because of price changes, subscription changes or taxes, and they allow a promotional rate to be followed by the regular rate.
Before paying, read the checkout summary for the exact billing interval, promotional end date, renewal amount, taxes and cancellation terms. A four-week cycle is not the same as a calendar month, so multiplying the introductory figure by 12 can understate the number of billing periods in a year.
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New York Times pricing
The Times help material used for the product comparison does not publish a stable universal list price for All Access or its standalone products. Offers can depend on account status, geography, platform and promotion. Treat the amount shown immediately before confirmation as the authoritative price for your subscription, and record the renewal date and post-promotion rate.
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Do not confuse company revenue metrics with consumer prices
The New York Times Company reported approximately 12.78 million total subscribers and 12.21 million paid digital-only subscribers as of December 31, 2025. About 26% of paid digital-only subscriptions were international. Its 2025 annual report also reported $9.68 in total digital-only average revenue per user and $12.67 in bundle/multiproduct average revenue per user.
Those are company revenue metrics for 2025, not the amount an individual customer will see on a checkout page. They can include different products, regions, billing arrangements and revenue recognition effects, so they should not be used to predict your subscription bill.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to decide between the two publishers
Pick New York Times All Access if you want breadth
- You want the Times’ News product and at least one of Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter or The Athletic.
- Different people in your household use different Times products.
- You value specialized features such as puzzle statistics, recipe organization, narrated articles, personal product lists or personalized team coverage.
Pick Washington Post Core if you want straightforward Post access
- Your main requirement is unlimited Washington Post website and standard app access.
- You do not need extra accounts, monthly guest passes, e-books or archives.
- You prefer to pay for the core news product rather than a multiproduct bundle.
Pick Washington Post Premium if sharing and archives matter
- Three other people need their own continuing accounts.
- You want a 30-day pass to lend each month.
- You use multiple Post apps or devices and want the full app lineup.
- You want the Post archive or downloadable e-books from its Pulitzer-winning journalists.
Buy a standalone Times product only for a narrow need
Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter and The Athletic can make sense when you want one specialist service and do not need News. Check the exclusion list before subscribing: each standalone product explicitly leaves out the other major Times products, and Games-only also excludes the annual Puzzle Mania special section.
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- Identify the product name. Confirm whether the offer says All Access, All Access Family, Games Family, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter or The Athletic. Similar-looking product names do not have the same inclusions.
- Read the included-products list. For the Times, look specifically for News if news access is your goal. For the Post, confirm whether the offer is Core or Premium.
- Check sharing terms. Count the number of permanent accounts and distinguish those from a temporary guest pass. Times Family allows up to three secondary subscribers; Post Premium lists three extra accounts plus one monthly 30-Day Digital Pass.
- Inspect the price schedule. Note the introductory amount, billing interval, promotion end date, regular renewal amount, taxes and any platform-specific charge.
- Check device and app needs. Post Premium is the documented tier that includes all Post apps on any device. Times Audio can be used through the News app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other supported platforms.
- Save the confirmation. Keep the receipt or confirmation page showing the exact product, renewal terms and account-sharing entitlements. This is useful if the offer changes or you later cancel.
Important limits and availability caveats
Free article meters, promotional prices and eligibility can vary by geography, account, platform and time. A price or article count shown to one reader may not appear for another. The Washington Post’s documented free experience is limited monthly access plus newsletters; the exact limit is not a universal number in the package description.
The product inclusions above describe the publishers’ documented digital offerings. They do not establish that every newspaper edition, print benefit, event, licensing arrangement or third-party platform feature is included. If a particular app, archive range, podcast feed or regional edition is decisive for you, confirm it in the offer attached to your account before completing payment.
Bottom line
New York Times All Access is the better fit for a broad bundle: News plus games, recipes, audio, product reviews and sports coverage in one subscription. Washington Post Core is the simpler paid news tier, while Premium is the stronger choice for three extra accounts, a monthly 30-day guest pass, all Post apps, e-books and archives. Because both publishers change promotions and renewal rates, compare the live checkout details—not just the headline introductory price—before subscribing.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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