diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 1f9cc5f1..5bb21f4f 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ a username & password pair. This is necessary for
 ``pixiv``, ``nijie``, and ``seiga``
 and optional for
 ``danbooru``, ``e621``, ``exhentai``, ``idolcomplex``, ``instagram``,
-``luscious``, ``sankaku``, ``tsumino``, and ``twitter``.
+``luscious``, ``sankaku``, ``subscribestar``, ``tsumino``, and ``twitter``.
 
 You can set the necessary information in your configuration file
 (cf. gallery-dl.conf_)
diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst
index 661213eb..19f4809a 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@ Description The username and password to use when attempting to log in to
             * ``instagram``
             * ``luscious``
             * ``sankaku``
+            * ``subscribestar``
             * ``tsumino``
             * ``twitter``
 
diff --git a/docs/supportedsites.rst b/docs/supportedsites.rst
index 2ed5d6ec..721b0f4e 100644
--- a/docs/supportedsites.rst
+++ b/docs/supportedsites.rst
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ SlickPic             https://www.slickpic.com/           Albums, User Profiles
 SlideShare           https://www.slideshare.net/         Presentations
 SmugMug              https://www.smugmug.com/            |smugmug-C|                                        Optional (`OAuth <https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl#oauth>`__)
 Speaker Deck         https://speakerdeck.com/            Presentations
-SubscribeStar        https://www.subscribestar.com/      Posts, User Profiles                               Optional (`Cookies <https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl#cookies>`__)
+SubscribeStar        https://www.subscribestar.com/      Posts, User Profiles                               Optional
 The /b/ Archive      https://thebarchive.com/            Threads
 Tsumino              https://www.tsumino.com/            Galleries, Search Results                          Optional
 Tumblr               https://www.tumblr.com/             Likes, Posts, Tag Searches, User Profiles          Optional (`OAuth <https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl#oauth>`__)
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/subscribestar.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/subscribestar.py
index 07fffcbd..08d88509 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/subscribestar.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/subscribestar.py
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
 """Extractors for https://www.subscribestar.com/"""
 
 from .common import Extractor, Message
-from .. import text
+from .. import text, exception
+from ..cache import cache
 import datetime
 import json
 
@@ -24,17 +25,21 @@ class SubscribestarExtractor(Extractor):
     directory_fmt = ("{category}", "{author_name}")
     filename_fmt = "{post_id}_{id}.{extension}"
     archive_fmt = "{id}"
+    cookiedomain = "www.subscribestar.com"
+    cookienames = ("auth_token",)
 
     def __init__(self, match):
         tld, self.item = match.groups()
         if tld == "adult":
             self.root = "https://subscribestar.adult"
+            self.cookiedomain = "subscribestar.adult"
             self.subcategory += "-adult"
         Extractor.__init__(self, match)
         self.metadata = self.config("metadata", False)
         self._year = " " + str(datetime.date.today().year)
 
     def items(self):
+        self.login()
         for post_html in self.posts():
             media = self._media_from_post(post_html)
             if not media:
@@ -49,6 +54,42 @@ class SubscribestarExtractor(Extractor):
     def posts(self):
         """Yield HTML content of all relevant posts"""
 
+    def login(self):
+        if self._check_cookies(self.cookienames):
+            return
+        username, password = self._get_auth_info()
+        if username:
+            cookies = self._login_impl(username, password)
+            self._update_cookies(cookies)
+
+    @cache(maxage=28*24*3600, keyarg=1)
+    def _login_impl(self, username, password):
+        self.log.info("Logging in as %s", username)
+
+        url = "https://www.subscribestar.com/session.json"
+        headers = {
+            "Origin"          : "https://www.subscribestar.com",
+            "Referer"         : "https://www.subscribestar.com/login",
+            "X-Requested-With": "XMLHttpRequest",
+        }
+        data = {
+            "utf8"    : "✓",
+            "email"   : username,
+            "password": password,
+        }
+
+        response = self.request(
+            url, method="POST", headers=headers, data=data, fatal=False)
+        if response.json().get("errors"):
+            self.log.debug(response.json()["errors"])
+            raise exception.AuthenticationError()
+
+        return {
+            cookie.name: cookie.value
+            for cookie in response.cookies
+            if cookie.name.startswith("auth")
+        }
+
     @staticmethod
     def _media_from_post(html):
         gallery = text.extract(html, 'data-gallery="', '"')[0]
diff --git a/scripts/supportedsites.py b/scripts/supportedsites.py
index 628436b1..80e6ed7d 100755
--- a/scripts/supportedsites.py
+++ b/scripts/supportedsites.py
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ AUTH_MAP = {
     "sankaku"        : "Optional",
     "seiga"          : "Required",
     "smugmug"        : "Optional" + _OAUTH,
-    "subscribestar"  : "Optional" + _COOKIES,
+    "subscribestar"  : "Optional",
     "tsumino"        : "Optional",
     "tumblr"         : "Optional" + _OAUTH,
     "twitter"        : "Optional",