newspapers.com

November 20, 2025

What Newspapers.com is

Newspapers.com is a subscription-based archive platform offering access to digitised newspaper pages. According to their site, you get “unlimited access to 1 billion+ pages from 29,000+ newspapers dating back to 1690.” (newspapers.com)
It’s geared toward people doing genealogy, historical research, local-history digging. Their “About” page says you can find “news, notices of births, marriages and deaths, sports, comics and much…” from old newspapers. (newspapers.com)
They also offer a “Library Edition” package (via ProQuest) aimed at institutions, which includes 4,000+ historical newspapers from the 1700s into the 2000s. (ProQuest)

How it works / key features

You subscribe (monthly or longer term) and gain access to the archive through their viewer. Their viewer allows zooming in on pages, clipping an article, saving, printing or sharing. (newspapers.com)
You can search by keyword, date, location/newspaper, or browse. For example the “Collections FAQ” says they include records from over 600 million newspaper pages from 1700s-2000s. (Ancestry Support)
Browsing: you can select a newspaper title, date, region etc. The review piece says you can narrow by location then search keyword. (Family History Daily)
Saving/clipping: you can clip an article or part of a page, download it (depending on plan), and link to a family tree or save for research. (Family History Daily)

Subscription / Cost & Access Levels

They work on a subscription model. Their “Choose a Plan” page says “Unlimited access … Explore everything newspapers have to offer, including archives through last month.” (newspapers.com)
According to a review from 2020-21, the “Basic” plan was about US $8/month or about US $45 for six months; the “Publishers Extra” level (more content) about US $20/month or US $75 for six months. (dataminingdna.com)
There are apparently two tiers of content: Basic vs Publishers Extra. Basic gives you access to “out of copyright” newspapers (older ones) while Publishers Extra gives more recent content where the publisher retains rights. (dataminingdna.com)
Important: Being a subscriber doesn’t always mean you’ll have everything. Some newspapers or certain years may fall into the higher tier (Publishers Extra) and not be covered by Basic. The review notes this has caused confusion. (dataminingdna.com)

What you get – strengths

Depth & breadth of archive: Thousands of newspapers, including local and regional ones, going far back in time. That’s very useful for historical/genealogical research.
Digitised access means you don’t need to visit a physical library or archive for many items (though probably not all newspapers are included).
Search + browse capability: You can hunt by date/region + keyword, which helps when you know approximate time/place.
Tools for clipping, saving, printing: Makes it easier to use the material for e.g. building a family tree, collecting sources.
For institutions, the Library Edition offers a large-scale service for libraries/universities.

What you don’t get / limitations

Not everything is included: Because of copyright issues, some newspapers or more recent years are behind higher-tier access. The Basic plan may not include content you expect. The review mentions confusion and disappointment when subscribers found something they thought was included but wasn’t. (dataminingdna.com)
Cost: Even though the entry-level may seem modest, for some research projects it adds up. Especially if you need to subscribe over many months.
Quality may vary: Digitisation, OCR (text recognition) and image clarity can be less than perfect (especially for older newspapers or poor originals). The review mentions issues with image quality when saving to a tree on another platform. (dataminingdna.com)
Research still requires skill: Just having access doesn’t guarantee you find what you need. Searching names, dealing with misspellings, variations, regional newspapers not included can all pose challenges. The review emphasises being “flexible and creative” with searches. (Family History Daily)
Subscription dependent access: If you stop subscribing you may lose access to the viewer for content you have clipped but haven’t downloaded to your own machine. You’ll want to preserve local copies if the material is important. The review warns about this. (dataminingdna.com)

Use Cases – When it’s especially useful

Genealogy: If you are tracing family history and want birth/marriage/death notices, local news stories, obituaries, social pages from the past, this archive is very relevant.
Local history projects: If you are researching events, businesses, communities in a particular place and era, especially beyond major national newspapers, this adds strong value.
Academic/historical research: For example historians looking at newspapers as primary sources, patterns of reporting, media history.
Library/institutional subscription: If you run or are affiliated with a library/university, the Library Edition can be a valuable addition for users.

Use Cases – When it may be less useful

If your research interest is very narrow and limited to newspapers not included in their collection (or very recent years that are behind extra paywall).
If you only need one or two specific pages/articles and don’t plan to dig deeper – in that case paying for a longer subscription may not make sense.
If you prefer free databases and are willing to cope with their limitations (availability, searchability) rather than a paid archive.
If you’re working outside the main regions covered (for example newspapers from many non-US/UK locales might not be fully included).

Tips for Getting the Most Out of It

Before subscribing, check whether the newspapers/years you care about are included. Try the free trial if available.
Use the advanced search: narrow by date, newspaper title, location to reduce noise and improve results.
Be flexible with names, spellings, and keyword terms — old newspapers often have variations, archaic terms, incomplete names.
When you find an article you care about, download/save a local copy (PDF/JPG) so you retain access even if subscription lapses.
Consider timing your subscription: If you know you’ll have a research burst (e.g., a few weeks of free time), pay for that short term rather than a long-term plan if you don’t expect ongoing use.
Use the clipping and saving tools, but also verify image quality; sometimes you might want to zoom in and save manually for better clarity.
Link findings to your research (e.g., family tree, local history project) as you go to maximise value.

Key Takeaways

Newspapers.com is a strong, well-established archive of digitised newspapers, valuable for genealogy, local history, and research.
It offers great access—hundreds of millions to billions of pages—but not everything is included for all plans; content access depends on subscription tier.
Cost is modest for many months but still worth evaluating relative to your actual research need.
You’ll get best value if you’ve identified what you’re looking for (which newspapers/years) and use the service actively.
It’s not a substitute for all free resources, but rather a premium option when you need deep or specific access to newspapers.

FAQ

Q: Does a subscription give access to all newspapers on the site?
A: No. Access depends on the tier of subscription. The “Basic” plan covers many older/public-domain pages; the “Publishers Extra” tier covers more recent and still-copyrighted material. Some content may be behind the higher tier even if it appears in search. (dataminingdna.com)

Q: Can I access the archive on a monthly basis, or do I need to commit for a year?
A: Yes, you can subscribe monthly or for a longer term (e.g., six months) depending on promotion. Review sources mention monthly plans around US $8 for Basic (past rate) and higher for Extra. (dataminingdna.com)

Q: If I cancel my subscription, will I lose what I saved?
A: If you saved clipping references in the site’s gallery, you may lose access via the online viewer when subscription ends—and might lose some features. It’s wise to download local copies of articles/pages you care about. (dataminingdna.com)

Q: How far back do the newspapers go?
A: The archive claims to go back to 1690 in some cases. (newspapers.com)

Q: Does it include newspapers outside the United States?
A: Yes, there’s mention of newspapers from other countries. For example the review mentions “Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Panama” as examples of newspapers included. (Family History Daily)

Q: How good is the search functionality?
A: Generally decent—keyword search, date/location filtering, etc. But because of variations in historical print quality, OCR errors, non-standard names, you’ll need to experiment and broaden search terms. The review suggests being creative with search strategy. (Family History Daily)