Reviewers commonly report three recurring issues: poor scan/OCR quality for many pages, billing or auto‑renewal frustrations, and problems with account access or payments. At the same time, several users confirm the archive can be a valuable research resource and cite positive, effective help from individual support agents. Prospective subscribers may wish to try a short subscription period first, check renewal settings carefully and test search results for the specific titles they need. If downloads or account problems arise, document the issue and contact support promptly; several reviews show individual agents can resolve account access problems but systemic issues persist.
Examples from available reviews (Jan 2023 – Feb 2026).
Customer service failed to resolve PayPal payment problems over multiple weeks.
“Appalling Customer Service.”
Downloaded images were unreadable unless paying extra for higher quality.
“The Quality of downloaded images is so poor that many of them cannot be read.”
Valuable research resource but some scans are illegible and unannounced.
“some of the scans are not legible or semi legible”
Joann restored the reviewer's account and enabled access to useful newspapers.
“Joann is an angel!”
Frequent reports of account, billing and access problems; several users describe slow or ineffective support, though a few cite helpful individual agents.
Many reviewers feel costs are not justified when scans or downloads are unreadable and when unexpected renewals or charges occur.
Users report confusing sign‑up/trial flows, login and mobile logout issues, limited search refinement and inconsistent ordering of results.
Widespread complaints about scan and OCR quality: dark, cut‑off or illegible images, unreadable downloads and poor pre‑1850 scans are often mentioned.
Several users report poor billing transparency, lack of renewal warnings, refused refunds and limited advance information about future digitisation plans.
A minority cite strong research value and good support, but most reviewers describe problems with access, billing or scan quality that harm overall satisfaction.
For each review, the core experience based on original source reviews.
Sources: Trustpilot (39) · Collected.reviews (1) · Quotes shortened · As of: February 2026
Vicky resolved a gift voucher issue and restored archive access quickly.
“Vicky helped with an issue I had with a gift voucher”
Sophie fixed a renewal snag and restored the user's pay-as-you-go access.
“Sophie, of BNA support, diagnosed the problem”
Sophie quickly provided a direct link to the requested 1940 London newspapers.
“Sophie provided a direct link to exactly where I wanted to go.”
Sophie helped resolve login problems efficiently.
“Sophie helped me with.”
Marion provided swift, caring support for genealogy research.
“Thoughtful and friendly service.”
Sophie promptly resolved a small problem.
“Sophie took care of it right away.”
Sophie promptly resolved an access problem for this long-term user.
“Sophie promptly resolved”
Ryan assisted with sign-in and clarified free access to three articles.
“Ryan on email was very helpful”
Sophie resolved a subscription problem quickly and courteously.
“Great service from "Sophie" solving a problem with my subscription.”
Sophie helped with a subscription mistake and the user will return.
“Sophie was incredibly helpful”
Subscription is too expensive for occasional and abortive searches.
“I find the Archive expensive.”
Generally comprehensive resource with prompt responses despite some reproduction limits.
“Fairly comprehensive to a degree.”
Jamie fixed account administration problems and restored access.
“Jamie was a great help”
Payment attempts failed despite bank approval and the site remained obstructive.
“had my bank approve it using facial recognition, then received an “Error” message on the BNA website.”
Payment attempts were repeatedly declined and customer support was unhelpful.
“her attempts to process payment is always declined”
Immense, easily accessible archives and consistently efficient support from Sophie.
“The archival resources are immense, easily accessible and absolutely fascinating.”
Sophie quickly refunded a missed promotional discount with courtesy.
“This is excellent customer service”
Terrible OCR and awkward website design make it poor value for researchers.
“the BNA's OCR is terrible.”
Sophie promptly resolved a duplicate payment and reassured the user.
“Sophie immediately sorted it out”
Ryan provided prompt and friendly assistance with a research project.
“I received prompt and friendly service from Ryan”
AI-corrupted files were unreadable and wasted the user's paid subscription.
“They appear as gibberish and unreadable.”
Couldn't find the free trial pages or any link offered.
“couldn't find them or any link”
Could not access promised three free articles despite help.
“Simply CANNOT access the 3 free articles”
Long-term member suddenly couldn't log in or change their password.
“password is not working”
Support resolved the reviewer's problem quickly and efficiently.
“Dealt with my problem quickly and efficiently”
Valuable research resource but some scans are illegible and unannounced.
“some of the scans are not legible or semi legible”
Joann restored the reviewer's account and enabled access to useful newspapers.
“Joann is an angel!”
Payment attempts were repeatedly declined and support requested full card details.
“WorldPay constantly declines both PayPal payments and Credit Card payments”
Auto-renewal is hard to avoid and OCR/search quality is poor.
“The option to stop the subscription auto-renewing is not made clear at sign-up”
Company hid cancellation steps and mismanaged auto-renewals and refunds.
“they then hide the steps to cancel that auto-renewal.”
Accidentally charged far more than expected and refund issues occurred.
“got charged 99.99 which I can't afford”
Customer service failed to resolve PayPal payment problems over multiple weeks.
“Appalling Customer Service.”
Subscription auto-renewed without notice and many scans were unreadable.
“Auto-renewal scam. Beware.”
Found many ancestral articles despite some illegible images.
“I have found lots of interesting articles about my ancestors”
Many scans and photos were low quality and some text was unreadable.
“the quality on many of the news papers was unacceptably poor”
Overpriced with poor image quality and limited download and regional coverage.
“Expensive for what you actually get”
Many subscribed newspapers were unreadable and refund was refused.
“Many of the newspapers I signed up to see were unreadable”
Downloaded images were unreadable unless paying extra for higher quality.
“The Quality of downloaded images is so poor that many of them cannot be read.”
Promotional subscription ended without notice and content/search coverage was limited.
“Paid for this on an offer price and they ended my subscription without notice.”
I recently used the British Newspaper Archive to conduct research on British history for a project I was working on. I must say, it was an amazing experience. The archive is packed with historical newspapers that were easy to access and search.
What stood out to me was the user-friendly interface of the website which made navigation smooth and hassle-free. Also, their powerful search engine allowed me to do quick searches based on keywords or phrases relevant to my research topic, thus saving me lots of time.
The newspaper articles provided in this archives are also very informative and well-preserved- some dating as far back as the 18th century! This added value not only helped build up my research but also gave insights into how people lived day-to-day during those stories periods from their own accounts!
Thanks so much, British Newspaper Archive Team! You have made researching about Britain's history way easier than it ever could be.
This page combines submitted experiences with public reviews from platforms such as Google, Trustpilot, etc. Recurring points are summarised without changing the content of reviews.
The British Newspaper Archive is an online service offering digitised historic newspapers from the UK and Ireland. It provides searchable access to archived newspaper pages and is operated commercially in partnership with major libraries and heritage organisations to make historical press material available to researchers, family historians and the public.