The screeching modem. The "You’ve Got Mail" lady. Those silver CDs that somehow multiplied in your junk mail like rabbits. For anyone who touched a computer in the 90s, AOL wasn't just a service; it was the internet. But it’s 2026, and the digital landscape looks nothing like the walled garden Steve Case built.
Lately, there’s been a lot of chatter. You might have seen the headlines or heard a rumor from a relative who still uses an @aol.com address. People are asking: is AOL shutting down for good?
The answer isn't a simple yes or no. It’s more like a "sorta, but not the way you think."
The 2025 Dial-Up Execution
If you’re looking for a funeral date, September 30, 2025, was it. That was the day the music—or rather, the screeching—officially died.
After 34 years of operation, AOL finally pulled the plug on its dial-up internet service. Honestly, it's wild it lasted that long. While most of us transitioned to broadband while "Mr. Brightside" was still on the radio, a small, dedicated group of users—mostly in rural areas or folks who just really liked the nostalgia—stuck with the old-school phone line connection.
By the time the end came, the numbers were tiny. We’re talking about a few thousand people globally. Yahoo (AOL’s parent company at the time) decided it just wasn't worth maintaining the ancient copper-wire infrastructure anymore. When they shut it down, they also retired the AOL Dialer and the AOL Shield browser. If you were holding onto a legacy "AOL Advantage" or "Netscape Connect" plan, that part of your digital life is officially over.
So, Is My Email Going Away?
Relax. Your ancient email address is safe. For now.
Despite the death of dial-up, AOL Mail is still very much alive in 2026. Even though the company has been passed around like a hot potato between corporate giants—Verizon, then Apollo Global Management, and now its latest owner—the email service remains one of the top ten most used in the world.
Think about that for a second. Millions of people still log in every day to check their @aol.com accounts. Some do it out of habit. Others use it as a "burner" for shopping sign-ups. And a surprising number of professionals still use it because, well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Bending Spoons, the Italian tech powerhouse that recently took over, hasn't shown any signs of killing the mail service. In fact, their CEO, Luca Ferrari, has gone on record calling AOL an "iconic, beloved business" with "unexpressed potential." That’s corporate-speak for "we think we can make money here."
Who Actually Owns AOL Now?
The history of AOL ownership is a chaotic saga of bad deals and massive write-offs.
- The Time Warner Era: The $165 billion merger in 2000 that basically destroyed both companies' values.
- The Verizon Era: Verizon bought it for $4.4 billion in 2015, tried to mash it with Yahoo into a brand called "Oath," and then realized they had no idea how to run a media company.
- The Apollo Era: Private equity firm Apollo Global Management bought the Yahoo/AOL bundle for $5 billion in 2021.
- The Bending Spoons Era: In late 2025, a deal was struck for Bending Spoons to acquire AOL for roughly $1.5 billion.
Bending Spoons is a different kind of animal. They’re the folks behind Evernote and Meetup. Their playbook is pretty specific: they buy "mature" (read: old) tech brands that have a loyal user base, trim the fat, and then hike the prices or optimize the ads to make them profitable again.
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If you use AOL Desktop Gold—the paid version that feels like the 90s but on a modern computer—expect the price to go up. Bending Spoons didn't spend $1.5 billion just to be a museum curator. They want a return on that investment.
Why Does AOL Still Matter in 2026?
It’s easy to mock AOL as a relic of the "You’ve Got Mail" era, but it actually pioneered a lot of the stuff we take for granted today.
Before there was WhatsApp, there was AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). Before there was ChatGPT, there was SmarterChild—an AI chatbot on AIM that could tell you the weather or your movie times if you asked nicely.
Today, AOL functions mostly as a massive content portal and an email provider. It still generates over $500 million in annual revenue. That’s not "shutting down" money. That’s "we’re a mid-sized tech company with a lot of name recognition" money.
What Most People Get Wrong About the "Shutdown"
The confusion usually stems from the fact that AOL is no longer an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
When people ask "is AOL shutting down," they usually mean one of three things:
- Can I still get internet from them? No. That ended in September 2025.
- Is the website going away? No. AOL.com is still a massive news portal.
- Is my email being deleted? No. It’s still active and supported.
Basically, AOL has completed its transformation from "The Gateway to the Internet" to "Just Another Website on the Internet." It’s a bit of a fall from grace, sure, but it’s not a total disappearance.
Security Concerns for 2026
If you are one of the millions still clinging to your @aol.com address, you need to be careful. Because AOL is "old tech," it’s a massive target for scammers. They assume that if you have an AOL address, you might be... let's say, less tech-savvy.
Phishing attacks targeting AOL users are rampant. You might get emails saying your account is being deactivated or that you need to "verify your identity" due to the Bending Spoons acquisition. Don't fall for it.
The new owners are likely to implement stricter security protocols—mostly because data breaches are expensive—but for now, you’re responsible for your own safety. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) immediately. If you’re still using the same password you had in 2004, for the love of everything digital, change it.
The Actionable Reality
So, what should you actually do?
If you’re still using AOL for your primary email, you don't need to panic and migrate everything to Gmail tonight. But you should probably have a backup plan. Tech acquisitions are messy. Bending Spoons has a history of laying off staff and changing how products work almost overnight.
Here is your 2026 AOL survival checklist:
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- Export your contacts: Do this now. If the interface changes or they put a paywall behind certain features, you don’t want your address book held hostage.
- Check your subscription: If you're paying for "AOL Advantage" or "Desktop Gold," look at your credit card statement. Make sure you aren't paying for "dial-up" components that were discontinued in 2025.
- Update your recovery info: Ensure your mobile number and backup email are current so you don't get locked out during a platform migration.
- Consider a professional alias: If you’re job hunting, keep the @aol.com for your personal life, but maybe grab a @gmail.com or @outlook.com for your resume. Fair or not, tech-bias is real.
AOL isn't going dark, but the version of it we grew up with is officially a ghost. It’s a digital heirloom—functional, familiar, but definitely showing its age. Keep using it if you love it, just don't expect it to stay the same forever.