ArsPro gives you more ways to read while directly supporting our journalism.
When Ars launched in 1998, there was one way to read it: in a web browser on a PC (or Mac). Your screen of choice was either some massive CRT or a very expensive LCD monitor (or, in my case, the less-expensive grayscale, passive-matrix LCD on a PowerBook). Either way, it was butt in chair, chair at desk.
One of the first perks we offered subscribers way back at the turn of the millennium allowed them to read Ars without a browser. Articles were available as formatted PDF files, so you could print out John Siracusa’s Mac OS X Public Beta review and read it on the subway or build your own searchable archive of your curated Ars content. Another option was full-text RSS feeds—instead of getting a two-paragraph summary, subscribers could browse Ars in their favorite RSS reader.
It’s 2026, and while screens have proliferated in size and portability, ArsPro subscribers still get PDFs of every article and full-text RSS feeds, because sometimes the web isn’t always the ideal place to read the web.
Of course, an ArsPro subscription offers much more than portability. Subscribers also receive:
- A 100 percent ad-free experience
- Access to the deep community found in Ars Technica’s subscriber-only forums
- Control over front page information density with four different layouts (grid, list, Classic, and Neutron Star)
- No trackers
- A special user badge for ArsPro++ subscribers
These aren’t just perks for power users. They’re ways to make Ars fit how you actually read: save a long feature for a flight, follow every story in RSS, strip away distractions, or spend time with a community that has been arguing intelligently about technology for decades.
Subscribing is a win-win proposition: You get an improved reading experience with no ads and no trackers, while your $25 ArsPro or $50 ArsPro++ subscription helps pay for the reporting, analysis, reviews, and all the other deeply geeky things that make Ars Ars. Each subscriber helps us rely less on advertising and more on the readers who truly value the work we do.
Don’t delay, subscribe today!