In the digital age, porn is free. Well, at least most of it is. Free video tube sites, image messaging boards, and forums like Reddit have made porn accessible to anyone with an internet connection — but that doesn't mean that free porn is the best porn. In fact, a lot of the highest quality porn still costs money, and that's a great thing for men and porn stars alike. 1. IT'S NOT THAT EXPENSIVE You already subscribe to magazines and pay for Netflix. So why should porn be any different? Plushies.tv is $9.99 per month for a year of access, which is about the same as most of the other major sites (compared to $7.99 - 11.99 for Netflix access). 2. YOU GET HIGHER-QUALITY STUFF Most paid porn sites offer downloads, 4K resolution, and even virtual reality porn — which isn't as easy to come by on free sites. Paying for porn also means that you don't have to search as long for just the right video — specific websites like plushies.tv offer full-length libraries of a certain style or genre of sex. Some performers work mostly with one company or production team, so subscribing to that site — or even to a performer's personal page — can give you a more intimate experience than sifting through the scattered internet library of free clips to follow a performer's career. 3. IT SUPPORTS THE INDUSTRY This, really, is the heart of the issue. When porn hit the web and started going online for free, the industry took a huge hit. Free tube sites have decimated our industry, bankrupted companies and people, and put many people out of jobs — both people in front of and behind the camera. Paying for porn gives money directly back to the people who keep the adult industry sexy and successful. 4. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO SHOW UP ON YOUR CREDIT CARD Look, all of the porn sites out there know you don't want a record of your most personal purchases all over the internet. Nearly every site processes credit card transactions through an intermediary or innocuously named vendor account. Plushies.tv, for instance, shows up as "epoch," and promises that all transactions will be securely processed. If you're really determined to keep your porn purchases secret from a significant other or someone else who might be reading your statements, nothing is going to jump out and scream, "Hey, this guy's lookin' at porn over here!" from an online purchase. 5. IT'S SAFER Everyone who went through puberty with a connection to the internet has probably, at one point or another, made the mistake of clicking on the wrong link in a hormone-fueled desire to get off. Computer viruses are still a major risk on many free porn sites, and while ad blockers and proper virus protections can go a long way to mitigate the risk, there's always a chance that delving into the depths of online porn will give your computer a digital STI. the risk of computer viruses significantly decreases when you sign up with a major pay site. The major tube sites, like Pornhub, have built up strong defenses against malware (a 2012 security study found you were more likely to get a virus on a religious or church website than a porn site), but delving further into the depths of imageboards and smaller streaming sites can still be dangerous. Paid sites, on the other hand, rely much less on pop-up ads and click-grabbing traps that clog up your browser, so the experience is cleaner and safer all around. 6. IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO Sure, nearly everyone who consumes content on the internet has streamed a TV show or movie illegally, so streaming porn might not feel like a big deal. "People are still getting away with it (mostly) because even though porn is getting more mainstream recognition, we still aren't perceived as a legitimate industry,". "We are seen as somewhat lesser human beings, and our worth and value are not respected. Would you walk into a restaurant, eat a satisfying meal, have a great time, and then not pay?" A solid point. Pulling a dine-and-dash isn't the greatest sin in the world — and in the long run, it probably won't sink a restaurant. But the porn industry has become a dinner with a revolving door where nearly everyone eats and runs — and that's not a sustainable business model. The fact of the matter is that without people who pay for porn, people won't make porn, and that's not fun for anyone involved.