Managing subscriber access to online subscription services providing online subscribers or potential new subscribers access to a subscription or trial subscription content at a normal level of service during the subscription period but, after the subscription has expired, providing a decreased level of service during a post-expiration period. The level of service may be decreased incrementally by reducing the content available to a subscriber, downloading the subscription content at a slower than normal rate, delivering certain features in black and white instead of color, deleting sound files, disabling any inter-active features, or any combination of these features. A subscription server manages the various databases and downloads subscription content to the online subscribers. The databases contain information about the subscribers and instructions for the subscription server to follow in granting normal or reduced access to the subscription content.