- There are effectively two methods for paywalling web-based content from a technical perspective: Server-side, and client/browser-side.
- Each approach has advantages and drawbacks which should be understood and weighed when determining which to employ.
One important challenge for any publisher selling access to content on a subscription or membership basis is how best to ensure it’s only made available to paying customers. No publisher likes the idea of visitors “hacking” their way around a paywall to access premium content for free.
The vast majority of publishers and paywall technology providers currently employ one of two technical approaches to paywalling web-based content: the “server-side” method, or the “client-side” method. (The client-side method is also referred to as “browser-side”)
Each approach comes with its own set of advantages and drawbacks, which should be understood and evaluated to determine which is best for a product based on goals, content, business model and other variables.
The following is a simplified guide to client-side and server-side method and the pros and cons of each. It’s designed to help inform strategic and tactical decisions around which method to employ; not to give a detailed technical breakdown of how each functions. “Paywalling” content is also a vague term encompassing many elements. Some may instead refer to protecting content, locking content, restricting access, access control, permission checking, etc. This guide will refer simply to paywalling content.
What are client-side and server-side paywalls?
Both server-side and client-side approaches can be used to hide content from website visitors, but each achieves that outcome differently and with different results:
Client-side paywalls
When a visitor attempts to access a piece of paywalled content from a site with a client-side paywall, the site will do the following, in order: