Wirecutter is one of the top sites I use when trying to figure out what product I want to buy. They do crazy in-depth analysis. It's how I landed on an air purifier last year when I knew nothing of the space (and learned the Molekule is basically snake oil).
NYT announced Wirecutter is become part of NY Times' All Access program. This means if you use the site a lot, you'll hit a paywall. Here's their breakdown of what's in store:
...Wirecutter, its product recommendation service, will institute a metered paywall, asking its frequent users to subscribe for unlimited access to its research and recommendations. A standalone subscription to Wirecutter is available for $5 every four weeks or $40 annually.
NY Times
I find it interesting to see NYT will be selling access as a standalone $40/year subscription. It's much cheaper than a full, non-promotional NYT digital subscription. That clocks in at $325 a year, but grants full access to everything NYT has to offer. You even get full archive access (just like TimeMachiner! 😉). If you shop a lot, Wirecutter is valuable enough to pay for. On an occasional use, you probably won't even realize it's now a semi-paid product. I like that.
Personally I rarely hit a paywall when accessing NYT.com but making Wirecutter part of All Access is a huge value. I've been tossing the idea around of subscribing (to print no less!) and unlimited access is a nice perk. In fact, Wirecutter is part of my standard product research I rely on for anything I buy, especially from Amazon. Three tools I rely on are: Fakespot (gives you the real star rating), CamelCamelCamel (shows historical pricing), and Wirecutter. This triple-threat helps provide some confidence that I'm not buying garbage nor a product who's manufacturer paid for reviews.