The Daily Telegraph is to launch a paywall, the third broadsheet after the Times and the Financial Times to charge for access, but the paper will allow readers 20 free articles a month.
And The Sun could charge for access from the latter half of 2013, according to its Chief Executive Mike Darcey.
The Telegraph's new "soft paywall" model, which allows users to access a limited number of free articles, has been pioneered by the FT and the New York Times.
Newspaper subscribers will get website access for free, as will iPad and tablet subscribers.
“Everyone knew that it was coming,” one Telegraph insider told The Huffington Post UK. “It was one of the worst kept secrets in the media. As such, the response on the editorial floor was casually nonchalant.“
The Guardian and The Independent are still free to access, as is the Mail Online, which is the biggest online success story in the UK industry. Despite a short-term dip in traffic in generate revenues of more than £45m for the year.
Powered by celebrity gossip, the site had 16m less viewers in February than in January, when ComScore named it the world's biggest website, according to the Financial Times.
The Telegraph has trialled the pay wall for several months for international users, who must subscribe after reaching the limit of 20 free articles.
The news had mixed reaction on social networking sites.
Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher said in a statement: "We want to develop a closer rapport with our digital audience in the UK, and we intend to unveil a number of compelling digital products for our loyal subscribers in the months ahead."
Last week Press Gazette reported a number of high-profile names at the Telegraph will be among the 80 journalists expected to be made redundant. The paper will create 50 new digital positions, meaning its overall staff will be reduced by 5%
The Guardian's Roy Greenslade said that investigations editor Jason Lewis, defence correspondent Sean Rayment, education writer Julie Henry, arts writer Roya Nikkah, medical correspondent Stephen Adams, City writer Helia Ebrahimi, head of technology Shane Richmond and news reporters Richard Alleyne and Wesley Johnson are all leaving.
The Financial Times is also cutting 35 editorial positions and recruiting 10 new digital journalism jobs.