German quality newsbrand Welt has accepted the limits of its potential subscriber base and is throwing its efforts behind revenue, not volume.

Welt, which is owned by Axel Springer, first launched a digital subscription strategy with a metered paywall in 2012. Four years later it moved to a freemium model and today about 50% of articles on its website and app are for paying subscribers only.

Welt now has about 225,000 subscribers of which 14% are print and digital and 86% are digital-only.