payant

Payant is a French term that functions as an adjective and as the present participle of the verb payer. It describes something that involves payment or that yields revenue, and it is used to label products, services, or content that requires a fee. The masculine singular form is payant, the feminine singular payante, the masculine plural payants, and the feminine plural payantes. Common usages include expressions such as un service payant, un abonnement payant, or une page payante, which contrast with gratuit or contenu gratuit for free offerings. In media and digital contexts, payant is frequently applied to indicate paid content or paywalled material, for example contenu payant or article payant.

In broader commerce and business language, payant can describe a revenue-generating model or a product that brings in money, as in un modèle économique payant or un produit payant. The term thus carries a nuance of price or monetization, rather than merely being expensive.

Payant also exists as a surname in French-speaking regions. In onomastics, it appears in various families and lineages without implying a specific occupation or status. The word is generally understood in everyday French to differentiate between fees or charges and free offerings, and it appears in consumer, publishing, and digital contexts.

See also: payer, paiement, contenu payant, service payant.