But whether you lost your password, haven’t saved it on your phone, are in a rush, or are just strapped for cash and promise yourself that you’ll subscribe later, there are many ways to bypass paywalls on the internet—including one that has been my go-to for the past year or so.
You may be able to use some of these methods successfully today, but that could change in the future as websites clamp down on bypass methods. But if you can’t right now, here is my most-trusted way to bypass paywalls online, and a few more you can try. (This article is regularly updated as some methods stop working and others pop up.)
Archive.today is the best, most reliable option for bypassing paywalls
Archive.today is the fastest, most reliable way to quickly bypass a paywall that I've found, and I've been using it successfully for the past year across a wide range of sites. It's a site that will create an archived version of any website you paste into the search bar. (Think of an archived version like taking a screenshot of any website with a time stamp—a self-described “time capsule,” if you will.) Archive.today “saves a text and a graphical copy of the page for better accuracy” and gives you a short link to an unalterable record of any web page. Yes, yes—but as a bonus, you can often use this functionality to bypass a paywall and read an entire paywalled article without issue.
Just paste your article link into the black “I want to search the archive for saved snapshots” bar and you'll be taken to a page where you can view earlier archived versions. If the article you’re trying to bypass isn’t already archived, then put the URL into the red “My URL is alive and I want to archive its content” bar. The site will then begin generating the archived version, which usually only takes a few minutes. You'll be sent straight to this archived version once it's ready, and you can come back to it later by copying the new URL from your browser's nav bar.
You can also add browser extension to Chrome that will create a button in your browser toolbar you can click to instantly create an archived of any web page. The archived version will even automatically open up in a new tab.
I've only had this site fail me once or twice. Usually, there's already an existing archived version for anything I want to read, but creating a new one only takes a minute or two. Still, if it doesn't work, try the next option.
More free, easy methods to try to get around a paywall
Use 12ft.io
12ft.io is a simple website created with the sole purpose of breaking through paywalls—and like Archive.today, it's simple to use: Simply paste the paywalled link in the text field and hit “Submit.” (Alternately, you can type “https://12ft.io/” before the URL in your browser bar.) The site will then show you the cached, “unpaywalled version” of the page. The only problem is that the site doesn't always work on all websites (The Wall Street Journal being a notable example; I also can't get it to show me anything from Crain's Chicago Business). If you get the “access denied” message, try another method on this list. (...)
More complex solutions to your paywall problems
If you're willing to try solutions that are a little more technical than a mere copy and paste, one of these options might work for you.
Disable JavaScript in your browser
Some websites use JavaScript to hide content behind paywalls, and you can circumvent those blocks by disabling JavaScript in your browser. Note that disabling JavaScript can (and will) break most websites—some may not let you view comments, while others may not load at all. But it’s worth trying if you just need to read the content of the post.
Ideally, you’d use a separate browser for this so that you don’t have to keep enabling and disabling JavaScript. Once you’ve chosen your secondary browser, check out our guide to disabling JavaScript in various ones.
Use a VPN
Some paywalled sites, like The Washington Post, will let you read a limited number of articles for free each month, then throw up the wall once you've hit the limit. You can use a VPN to change up your IP address and trick the site into giving you more freebies. This method won't help you on sites that don't offer any free access, but it's worth trying, and will work with both paid and free VPNs. (...)
Edit a couple of elements on the webpage
If you understand a bit of HTML and CSS, you can edit elements using your browser to go past some paywalls. Essentially, you’re editing the page to remove the banners that lock content behind a subscription. It’s a lot like opening the curtains to reveal the nice view outside your window.
It works with some websites, but others have added a hard block that reveals the article only if you’ve signed in with a paid account. Still, it’s worth trying once to see if it works:
On any website, right-click the banner just below the last visible sentence of the article and select Inspect Element. This will open up a console where you can search for the offending elements and hide or change them. The exact element varies from site to site, but it’s often labeled display, paywall, or subscribe. Here’s a neat GIF on Reddit that shows you how to get it done.
If you understand a bit of HTML and CSS, you can edit elements using your browser to go past some paywalls. Essentially, you’re editing the page to remove the banners that lock content behind a subscription. It’s a lot like opening the curtains to reveal the nice view outside your window.
It works with some websites, but others have added a hard block that reveals the article only if you’ve signed in with a paid account. Still, it’s worth trying once to see if it works:
On any website, right-click the banner just below the last visible sentence of the article and select Inspect Element. This will open up a console where you can search for the offending elements and hide or change them. The exact element varies from site to site, but it’s often labeled display, paywall, or subscribe. Here’s a neat GIF on Reddit that shows you how to get it done.
by Pranay Parab and Joel Cunningham, Life Hacker | Read more:
Image: Ian Moore/Joel Cunningham
[ed. I've found Cookie Remover and Quick Javascript Switcher to be pretty good solutions for most sites, either singly or in combination. Then again, some walls seem made out of titanium. And for the brave: How to Browse the Dark Web (LH).]
