What is Blendle?
Blendle is an online news platform launched in 2014 that allows users to buy individual premium articles from participating publications for a small fee, usually around $0.30. Its goal is to make quality journalism more accessible and affordable on an per-article basis.
On Blendle, users can browse headlines and lead paragraphs for free from over 1,500 publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, and more. If an article piques their interest, they can then unlock the full article by paying a small fee via in-app purchase. This à la carte model targets those who don't want to commit to full subscriptions for publications they may not read regularly.
Blendle uses much of the fee to compensate the publications, while keeping a small cut for itself. The platform is designed to make finding and purchasing premium articles quick and seamless across all devices. It also utilizes user data and interactions to provide personalized recommendations over time. While originally launched in the Netherlands, Blendle has expanded to include English language articles and readers in recent years.