There will be no changes for the BBC’s UK audiences or for those elsewhere around the world.
The corporation hopes the offer will raise money to help fund the BBC’s services alongside revenue from UK households through the licence fee, which costs 拢174.50 a year and accounted for about two-thirds of its total income last year.
The BBC has said it expected to have a 拢492m budget deficit for the latest financial year.
The UK government is set to review the corporation’s funding model, but the BBC’s director general has said switching to a subscription system for UK audiences would not “pass the test of building a universal trusted public service”.
The BBC’s new US pay model follows similar subscription systems used by other publications including the New York Times, and the likes of the Telegraph and the Sun putting selected stories and content behind paywalls in the UK.
BBC.com reaches 139 million visitors globally, including almost 60 million in the US, the corporation said.
UK audiences will still be able to access BBC News when travelling to America if they have the latest version of the app.