How to access Usenet for free
We outline how to access Usenet for free in our step-by-step guide, covering the options open to you and paid alternatives
For the last 40 years, internet users have been researching, taking part in conversations, and sharing files on the Usenet network. Today, Usenet isn’t as popular as it once was—services like Reddit, web forums, and Facebook Groups provide more modern discussion features—but Usenet still has a part to play.
Usenet is made up of thousands of hierarchical Usenet newsgroups, categorised into pretty much any topic you can imagine. One of the main features of Usenet is that it’s a great place to upload, download, and share files, from software and applications through to music and multimedia.
There’s just one problem—Usenet newsgroups exist on a completely different network to the World Wide Web, so you can’t access these newsgroups and files through your regular web browser, like Chrome or Firefox. That means you often need to pay for access via the best Usenet providers, which can make things difficult if you’re on a tight budget.
Fortunately, there are several ways to get access to Usenet newsgroups, conversations, and files for a low cost, and potentially even for nothing—with a free trial. Read on, and see our step-by-step guide on how to access Usenet for free.
How to access Usenet for free: Preparation
There are two things you’ll normally need to pay for if you want to access Usenet newsgroups, conversations, and files—a Usenet newsgroup reader and a Usenet access provider.
Step one: Understand the two aspects of Usenet access that might cost you money
A Usenet newsgroup reader is a software application that you’ll use to find and search newsgroups, take part in conversations, or upload and download files. Think of it like an email client or a web browser, but specifically designed for newsgroups.
A Usenet access provider is a service that lets you access the newsgroup network—since newsgroups aren’t available on the web. Think of this service like a subscription you need to pay to get specialist content.
Next, we’ll explore how much a Usenet newsgroup reader might cost you, and how to get one for free.
Step two: Get a free Usenet newsgroup reader
Our guide to the best Usenet newsgroup readers covers the most popular and fully-featured software for accessing Usenet. As part of researching that guide, we discovered that reader software fell into one of three cost categories:
- Standalone newsgroup readers that you pay money for, separate to Usenet network access through a provider; examples include Newsleecher at £3.26 a month, and Newsbin Pro at £24.50 a year
- Newsgroup readers from Usenet access providers that are free if you get a trial or buy access; examples include Newshosting and Easynews
- Newsgroup readers that are completely open-source and free; examples include SABnzbd and NZBGet
Downloading and installing SABnzbd or NZBGet is free, and you can use either of these applications as your newsgroup reader. There’s just one problem here—both of these programs can only be used to access files on Usenet newgroups. Neither of them allows access to conversations and threads in newsgroups.
For those, you’ll need one of the other newsgroup reader options, or Google Groups, which we’ll cover later. Now you have the software you need, let’s explore Usenet access providers.
Step three: Find a free or low-cost Usenet access provider
We’ve solved one half of the Usenet access puzzle—the newsgroup reader. Now it’s time to look at the other side—your access provider. Unfortunately, we don’t have quite as many options for completely-free access.
All Usenet providers, apart from Google Groups, do charge for access. But, some of them do offer free trials, so you can at least try them out for free to see if they’re worth subscribing to. Our guide to the best Usenet providers lists the most popular options: we'll dig into some of these below, and discover who provides some Usenet access for free, including some deals you can take advantage of.
Here’s the cheapest option for each provider and the length of their free trials.
Usenet providers offering access for £70 or less a year
- Newshosting: Three free months of Usenet access, then £4.89 a month
- Easynews: Three free months of Usenet access, then £4.89 a month
- Newsgroup Ninja: £4.76 a month
Usenet providers offering access for £100 or less a year
- Eweka: Seven free days of Usenet access, then approximately £6 a month
- UsenetServer: £6.49 a month
- Giganews: 14 free days of Usenet access, then £6.80 a month
- Astraweb: £6.53 a month
Usenet providers offering access for £150 or less per year
- Tweaknews: approximately £6.45 a month
- Newsleecher: 14 free days of Usenet access, then £7.75 a month
- Supernews: Three free days of Usenet access, then £4.89 for the first month and £9.79 for each month after that
Usenet providers offering the longest free trials
- Newshosting: Three free months of Usenet access, then £4.89 a month
- Easynews: Three free months of Usenet access, then £4.89 a month
- Giganews: 14 free days of Usenet access, then £6.80 a month
- Newsleecher: 14 free days of Usenet access, then £7.75 a month
Each of these providers offers slightly different services in terms of download speeds, concurrent connections, how long they retain files, and similar factors.
Google Groups is also a Usenet access provider, but it’s limited in what it can do, so we haven’t included it as an option here. We’ll explain why a little later.
In the meantime, take a look at each of the providers, and choose the one that best suits your needs.
Step four: Remember that some Usenet providers also offer free reader software
In step two, we talked about newsgroup reader software, and mentioned that only a couple of them were completely free and open-source, but that they only allowed you to download files. We also mentioned that some Usenet providers also offer free software if you subscribe to their services.
Two providers that do this are Newshosting and Easynews: if you decide to try out their free trials, you can download the software without charge, then take part in conversations and download files.
Step five: Use your newsgroup reader and access provider to start browsing Usenet
Once you have your newsgroup reader software and Usenet access, you can start using the network. Your access provider should give you all the information you need to configure and set up your Usenet client. From there, it’s just a case of learning the software and accessing newsgroups.
Honourary mention for free, limited Usenet access: Google Groups
There is a completely free way to access Usenet that we mentioned earlier—Google Groups. Google acquired an archive of Usenet posts many years ago and continues to index Usenet newsgroups and conversations. Today, Google operates two versions of Google Groups:
- As a workplace tool allowing for business communications and message management
- As an archive of Usenet newsgroup posts that individuals can search through and interact with
Unfortunately, there are some issues with Google Groups as a Usenet provider:
- Google Groups isn’t very easy to use for searching Usenet newsgroups, with searching and posting both being unintuitive and awkward
- Google Groups does not provide access to newsgroups—known as binaries groups—that are primarily used for sharing files
If you just want to subscribe to certain newsgroups and take part in conversations, then Google Groups is an option, providing you don’t mind the UI. If you want to upload, download, and share files, Google Groups doesn’t allow for that functionality, and you’ll need to choose a different access provider.
How to access Usenet for free: Bringing it all together
Let’s recap how to access Usenet for free:
- Get a newsgroup reader, with your free, open-source options being SABnzbd and NZBGet
- Get a free trial for Usenet access: we’ve linked to several free trial options in a breakdown of providers here, and in our guide to the best Usenet providers; free trials range between three days and three months
- If you use a paid provider, even with a free trial, you have more options for the reader software you can use
- Decide if you’d like to pay for access when your free trial ends; the best deals mean you can get a year’s worth of access for around $70
- Browse, search, and use newsgroups to take part in conversations and download files
We hope you find the perfect reader software and access to meet all your Usenet needs.
Further reading on Usenet
Learn how to download from Usenet, if you're interested in downloading files from the platform. It's also worth learning about Google Groups, another modern method for accessing Usenet; and take a look at our other reviews of top Usenet providers, including Eweka, EasyNews, UsenetServer, and Giganews.
One modern way to access some of Usenet is via Google Groups, while it's worth establishing which of the best Usenet newsgroup readers you'd want to use. Once you're all set up, learn how to download from Usenet, as well as how to access Usenet for free.
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