A growing number of news agencies and academic sites are using paywalls to monetize their content, which adds a huge burden to news lovers and avid readers. In most cases, we only need one article, but the platform ties it to a monthly or even annual subscription. How to bypass paywalls? There are 15 tricks tested working, allowing you to enjoy premium content without restrictions.
Disclaimer: We do not advocate any copyright infringement. Please check the relevant regulations before adapting the measures mentioned here. We pay no responsibility for illegal actions.
Table of Contents
What Is Paywall
A paywall is a system that requires users to pay before accessing certain content. Online publishers and news websites often use paywalls to increase revenue. Generally speaking, there are 2 types of paywalls.
Hard Paywalls
A hard paywall requires a must-pay before viewing any content, which protects authors’ rights to the largest extent but also reduces the number of viewers.
Sites use a hard paywall
- The Times
- The Wall Street Journal
Soft Paywalls
A soft paywall allows users to access some content for free but requires payment to access more content. This paywall is more widely used because it protects copyright and attracts subscribers at the same time.
Sites use a soft paywall
- The New York Times
- Medium
- The Financial Times
- The Athletic
Can you remove paywalls? Technically, yes. This tutorial gathered 15 tricks to get past paywalls on most sites. However, it’s essential to respect the authors’ efforts and the relevant terms.
15 Ways to Bypass Paywalls
Here are 15 ways to get past paywalls on websites. Please check the terms of services and other relative regulations before taking the measures below.
1. Clear Browser Cookies
Cookies are small text files stored on your browsers that log your activities. Many sites use cookies to know how many free articles you already read, and enforce later soft paywalls. Delete browser cookies can help get past this type of soft paywall.
How to bypass paywalls by deleting cookies?
Step 1. Open Chrome browser and click on the 3 dots next to your profile, tap “Settings”.
Step 2. Navigate to “Privacy and Security”, and click on “Clear browsing data”.
Step 3. Choose a time period and tick “Cookies and other site data”. Click the “Clear data” button to confirm.
Step 4. Re-visit the site to reach your article.
2. Use X-VPN
Many soft paywalls combine visitor’s IP, cookies, and logged-in account information to recognize each new visitor instead of a second visit.
In this case, changing your IP with a VPN can help remove paywalls. X-VPN helps change your IP addresses and utilizes advanced obfuscation and disguise technology to make paywalls even harder to recognize your identity. Before trying, you are suggested to sign out your account on that site and clear your cookies.
How to bypass paywalls with X-VPN?
Step 1. Download and install X-VPN to your reading devices.
Step 2. Open the app and choose a server to connect.
Step 3. Re-visit the site you want to read without paywalls.
3. Visit from Proxy Site
Similar to using a VPN, proxy servers help get past paywalls by changing your IP thus making you look like a new visitor, who’s always welcomed by “free trials”. Same as before, you are suggested to sign out your account on that site and clear cookies as well.
How to bypass paywalls with a proxy server?
Step 1. Visit a proxy site, https://www.croxyproxy.com/, for example.
Step 2. Enter the URL of the sites you want articles from.
Step 3. Visit that article from a new IP.
However, a proxy does not encrypt your data like a VPN does, thus making X-VPN more optimal for privacy-conscious users.
4. Browse with Tor
Another IP-based paywall remover is the Tor browser. It uses a technique called onion routing, which encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a series of volunteer-operated servers (nodes). The website you visit sees the IP of the last node in the circuit, making it difficult to trace back to the original user.
How to remove paywalls with Tor Browser?
Step 1. Download and install Tor Browser on your reading device.
Step 2. Open the browser, and click on the “Connect” button.
Step 3. Enter the link you want articles from and start reading.
Though works similarly, compared with getting past paywalls with a VPN, using the Tor browser may slightly slow down your speed. If you want a higher speed as well, opt for X-VPN instead.
5. Try AI Summary Tool
In many cases, we are not unwilling to pay, but just untrusted about the service we are paying for. An AI summary tool can help summarize the content of the article for you, after which, you can decide whether it deserves to pay.
How to remove paywalls with AI summary tool?
Step 1. Choose an AI summary tool, let’s take AI ChatMax as an example.
Step 2. Enter the URL of the article you want to read.
Step 3. Many great AI tools will help summarize content for you. After that, you can decide whether the rest content is worth paying for.
6. Add Chrome Extension
There are many extensions designed to help get past paywalls. For example, Unpaywall. After you install the extension and visit a site whose text sources are available to Unpaywall, you’ll see a green lock and click which you can get a PDF file of this article.
How to use Chrome extension to bypass paywalls?
Step 1. Add Unpaywall to your Chrome extension.
Step 2. Visit sites where you want to remove paywalls.
Step 3. Click on the green lock that appears on your screen. If it does not work for this site, the lock icon will become gray.
Step 4. You’ll be redirected to a PDF file of the current page.
7. Use Wayback Machine
Web archive refers to the snapshots of web pages that are captured and stored over time. By using a wayback machine tool, you can access this stored content easily.
How to bypass paywalls with wayback machine?
Step 1. Visit a wayback machine tool, take “https://archive.ph/” as an example.
Step 2. Paste your article URL to the blue box instead of the red one ahead.
Step 3. Click “search”.
Step 4. Visit the article from the generated URL.
8. Use Paywall Remover
There are dedicated paywall removers available. 12ft Ladder is one of the most popular choices. Simply visit the site, enter the URL you want to access, and click the button to get started.
How to get past paywalls with a paywall reader?
Step 1. Visit a paywall reader, take https://12ft.io/ as an example.
Step 2. Paste your article URL to the box and click “Clean Webpage“.
Step 3. Get your article in a clean format.
9. Inspect Pages
Browsers have built-in checking capabilities that also work for many soft paywalls. This method makes use of the browser cache to fetch already loaded content.
How to remove paywalls with the inspect feature?
Step 1. Open the article you want to access.
Step 2. Right-click your mouse and choose “inspect”.
Step 3. Click on these blocks under “Elements” to find the blocked content.
10. Use Hot Keys
Another method to break paywalls through caches is using the “Control+A” and “Control+C” hotkeys. Some soft paywalls already load out all the content you need then pop up a subscription wall. “Control+A” helps grab all content quickly, and a “Control+C” can copy this content to your clipboard.
How to break paywalls with hotkeys?
Step 1. Open the article.
Step 2. Hit the “Control+A” on your keyboard instantly to select all
Step 3. Hit the “Control+C” quickly to copy everything.
Step 4. Open a Word file or similar tool, and paste your content.
11. Translate Page in Google Translate
There’s a website translation feature of Google Translate, which can also help bypass some soft paywalls. However, the formatting may be influenced.
How to bypass paywalls with Google Translate
Step 1. Visit Google Translate and navigate to “Website”.
Step 2. Enter the URL and click the arrow.
Step 3. A clear-formatting translated page will be shown.
12. Search in Bing MSN
Bing “MSN Search” gathers results from the search engine, index, and web crawler. In this way, by combining the article head with “MSN” you are very likely to get what you need without paywalls.
How to get past paywalls with MSN Search?
Step 1. Copy the article title.
Step 2. Paste the headline plus “MSN” into Bing.
Step 3. Get your article.
13. Save to Firefox Pocket
Firefox Pocket is designed to help users save and read later. Some soft paywalls are fully accessible initially and only switch to paid after a few hours. Saving articles to Firefox Pocket can sometimes help keep the original version in caches, thus bypassing some soft paywalls. But this method may not work for already paywalled articles.
How to bypass paywalls with Firefox Pocket?
Step 1. Download and open Firefox browser.
Step 2. Read articles and save them to Pocket as early as possible.
Step 3. If the article has upgraded to premium, try re-enter from your Pocket instead of opening from the official site directly.
14. Pretend Referral Traffic
Many news websites have cooperated with social media platforms to promote. You can take advantage of this to fake referral traffic by manually adding prefixes to your URL.
How to pretend to be a referral traffic to remove paywalls?
Step 1. Open the web page you are blocked from.
Step 2. Edit the URL, and add https://facebook.com/l.php?u= ahead of the read domain name. For example, “https://facebook.com/l.php?u=www.theguardian.com”.
Step 3. Check whether you can access it normally now.
15. Turn on Browser Reader Mode
Some browsers offer reader mode which displays the content in a specific format, sometimes this mode can help bypass some soft paywalls, the same as some ad blockers.
How to bypass paywalls with reader mode?
Step 1. Open your article in Safari browser, for example.
Step 2. Click on the book icon next to the search bar.
Step 3. Get your article without paywalls.
Alternative Ways to Bypass Paywalls
Instead of bypassing paywalls to access specific articles, consider exploring websites without paywalls. Many reputable platforms offer valuable research and news without requiring a subscription.
News Websites Without Paywall
There are brilliant news websites that require no payment before reading, by just bearing the ads, you can access free news easily.
- The Guardian
- Associated Press
- Reuters
- The Hill
- Politico
Buy A Single Article with Blendle
Agencies always bundle their articles in monthly/annual subscriptions. In most cases, we only need one article and may never visit the site again. If you are in the same situation, you can try Blendle, where you can find abundant sources from worldwide newspapers and magazines and buy a single piece. Articles from The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker can all be found there!
Conclusion
People keep fighting for cyber freedom and platforms enforce regulations to enhance revenue. The 15 ways to bypass paywalls have been tested by readers for years and may help you to some extent. However, there are hidden legal risks in implicating these measures. Try the alternatives without restrictions instead. Try the alternatives without restrictions instead. Additionally, for those seeking to stay informed about global news, use X-VPN to access worldwide content while staying private online.
FAQs
Is It Possible to Bypass Paywalls?
Yes, methods like using VPNs and adding paywall-breaking extensions have been tested effective. However, platforms are also increasing their oversight, which may render some tools ineffective over time.
Why Are Studies Locked Behind Paywalls?
Studies use paywalls can be frustrating because of the huge burden added to students. These platforms enforce paywalls mainly to protect intellectual property as well as increase revenue. You can check whether a special discount for students and researchers is provided.
Is It Illegal to Bypass Paywalls?
Yes, bypassing paywalls can raise legal and ethical concerns. Many paywalled websites have terms of service that prohibit unauthorized access to their content. Always check the relevant terms before implementing any movement. It is important to respect the rights of content creators and publishers.
