12 Legit Ways to Bypass Paywalls [Tested July 2025]

There are still ways to bypass paywalls today, even with more websites adopting the obtrusive technology. We tested dozens of paywall removal methods to find the ones that actually worked for us today.

Here are the 12 best methods we tested, including using one of the best VPNs to avoid IP-based paywalls, installing Chrome extensions, and using archival sites.

Tried and true methods

Here are methods we tested recently and have confirmed are still working today.

1. Turn on Reader Mode in your browser

You can get around certain soft paywalls by switching into reader mode in your browser. We confirmed this by accessing a New York Times article.

To switch to Reader Mode in Chrome:

1. Click the hamburger menu in the top right of Chrome.
2. Hover over More tools.
3. Click Reader Mode.

To switch to Reader Mode in Mac Safari:

1. Look at the address bar.
2. Click the rectangle with lines in the address bar.
3. Reader Mode should now be on.

To switch to Reader Mode in iOS Safari:

1. Look at the address bar.
2. Locate Aa on the left side of the address.
3. Tap Aa.
4. Scroll until you find Show Reader and tap.
5. Reader Mode should now be on.
6. Repeat these steps to disable Reader Mode when you’re done.

To switch to Reader Mode in Microsoft Edge:

1. Select Enter  Immersive Reader in the address bar.
2. To exit, select Exit Immersive Reader.
3. You may also use the keyboard shortcut F9 to access Immersive Reader.

2. Access the archived version

There are multiple sites that archive articles automatically by crawling the site, which bypasses paywalls since they have to read the whole article to understand what it's about and index it properly.

To access these cached versions, all you have to do is search for the URL on sites like the Webpage Archive or Wayback Machine.

We tested this on a New York Times article and was able to see the entire article with Webpage Archive and a partial snapshot on Wayback Machine. If one doesn't work when you try, it's a good idea to try another.

Another option is 12ft Ladder, but it didn't work at all for our tests this time around.

3. Try paywall bypassing extensions

If doing mildly sketchy things makes you nervous, you may want to pass on this option. There are extensions you can manually add to your browsers that will automatically block paywalls.

The issue is all the good, trustworthy, and popular ones get hit by copyright strikes so end up being banned from the official extension store. So you need to download them through Github and install them manually.

If you're feeling up tot he challenge, here are a few that are well received:

• Bypass Paywalls Clean
• Bypass Paywalls

While nothing downloaded from the internet is 100% safe, you can gauge the safety of a GitHub download by looking at how many people are working on the code, how many stars the download has, and if people are actively improving the code.

Make sure your cybersecurity software is up-to-date, and don’t disable anything to allow a download.

4. Use uBlock Origin ad blocker

Using uBlock Origin requires some finagling. However, following the instructions on this site is easy, and you’ll feel like a technology rock star when you’re done. The guide walks you through the steps to create a custom uBlock Origin filter that will allow you to use the Bypass Paywalls Clean extension.

We should also mention that uBlock Origin is no longer available on Google Chrome.

5. Check out Bardeen

Bardeen is designed to help automate workflows, but through that capability also has the ability to bypass paywalls with one of its pre-built automations called playbooks.

There are a few methods for doing this, but our favorite is the web archive playbook that allows you to access a site by looking like a Google web crawler rather than a person who needs to pay. Best of all, you can sign up for a free account through Bardeen.

6. Get access through your library

Check with your local library if they offer a subscription that you can use to sign into these websites for free. They may even have archives of all the materials you're looking for.

You’ll need to check with your individual library, but the librarians can help you figure out what access you do or don’t have. You may also discover other cool things your library offers. For instance, Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) lets you borrow books on library-sharing apps like Hoopla, book museum admissions, rent hiking gear, and play the ukulele all for free.^[1]

Methods for soft paywalls

Not all paywalls are built the same. While some may track your IP address, others may use cookies to see how many times you’ve accessed content. If the paywall says you've reached your limit on free articles, you can consider that a "soft" paywall and the below methods may work for you.

1. Use a virtual private network (VPN)

Best for: Sites that limit the number of articles you can read

A VPN isn’t just for unblocking Netflix. Some paywalls, like The Washington Post and The Weather Channel, track your IP address to limit how many articles you can read each month for free. Using a VPN allows you to change up your IP address and read unlimited articles.

To do this, you’ll need to switch your VPN server when you’ve hit the limit on the current server’s IP address. It’s that simple.

This method should work for a lot of different paywalls, but if you run into one that isn’t tracking your IP, there are other methods you can try to access the content. If you want to give this a try but don’t have a VPN, consider using one of these options that come at a low cost and offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try them for free:

2. Open an Incognito window

Best for: Sites that track your usage with cookies

Incognito mode is not an anonymous way to browse the internet, but that’s a problem for another day.

It will allow you to bypass paywalls that track your usage with cookies. Opening your web browser in Incognito mode gives you a fresh start on the Internet. You can then navigate to the site you want to access without previous browsing cookies interfering with your content.

Once you’re done, you’ll need to close the browser window to reset, but this is a relatively simple and painless way to bypass the paywall.

3. Delete your browser cookies

Soft paywalls use cookies to track how many articles you’ve read in the allotted period. You can manually delete your cookies (or block them altogether) to help you thwart soft paywalls.

This will not work for subscription-based sites like The New York Times Cooking, but it should help you read more articles than your monthly allotted time from other sites that monitor cookies.

4. Use the Tor Browser

You’ll need the Tor Browser to make this work. Then, you’ll just need to visit the site with the soft paywall you want to circumvent.

Once you’ve read the article, hit the New Identity button to start a fresh browser session. If you ever run into a soft paywall again while on Tor, you just have to click New Identity, and you’ll get a fresh start to keep reading.

Using Tor is a great way to browse anonymously online, which only helps when wanting to read payment-restricted content.

5. Use the Facebook URL

If the Facebook iOS shortcut doesn’t work for you, you can use the manual link to access the content. All you have to do is copy and paste https://facebook.com/l.php?u= before the link of any article. You’ll then be prompted to leave Facebook and be taken to the article. It’s simple and works on soft paywalls pretty well.

We tested this with a New York Times article and it worked for about two seconds before loading the paywall.

6. Try an iOS Shortcut

If you're browsing the web on your iPhone and stumble upon a paywall, one of Apple's built-in features might get you past the digital bouncer and into the content party. You can use the iOS Shortcuts app plus Unpaywall. 

We tried this with a few different sites like The Wall Street Journal, Medium, and The New York Times. It only worked with NYT.com, but that's not to say it won't work for your paywall problems, as it unblocked the NYT article like a charm.

1. Add Unpaywall by opening the Shortcuts app on your iPhone and searching for "Unpaywall."

2. Open the paywalled article you want to read.

3. Tap the Options button at the bottom of Safari and scroll down to choose Unpaywall.

4. You may need to tap "Allow" for the Unpaywall shortcut to work.

5. Once you've allowed the shortcut to work its magic, you should see a free, unblocked article.

FAQs

Bottom line

No matter your reason for wanting to remove paywalls, you now have plenty of options to do it for free. Our favorites are archival and web crawler sites like the Wayback Machine, 12ft Ladder, and VPNs. A secure VPN has many uses aside from paywall thwarting, like accessing geo-restricted content on streaming sites. 

No matter what, once you’ve sampled the content on the site with these methods, consider subscribing to content you find valuable. It’s always worth supporting your favorite creators. Your support can only lead to more content, and who doesn’t love that?