5 Best Chrome extensions to bypass a paywall (2024)

So you’ve been surfing the web, exploring the vastness of the internet. Until, baam… you slammed into a paywall. The internet is no longer as free as you once thought.

In this article, you will learn about the best Chrome extensions to bypass a paywall. If a paywall can be bypassed, these extensions will help you do it.

To learn more about paywalls and how they work, check out our complete guide to bypassing paywalls.

Before we dive into the extensions themselves, here is a drill down on paywalls.

Paywalls come in two types - soft and hard. A website with a soft paywall loads the entire article into the browser and then puts a curtain over the content by visually abstracting it with a popup or an overlay. Websites with a hard paywall, on the other hand, don’t load any content until verifying that you are a subscriber.

So these extensions use different approaches to bypass paywalls. Soft paywall extensions take down the curtain or extract the content from the article’s HTML, whereas hard paywalls pretend to be a robot.

Bardeen - best for hard paywalls

Bardeen is an extension that automates your manual computer tasks with a shortcut.

Bardeen is not designed for paywall removal, but rather for powerful workflow automations such as syncing data between your apps like Google Sheets, Notion, and ClickUp.

Remove paywall

Additionally, Bardeen empowers you to incorporate AI into your workflow without coding through integrations like OpenAI.

After you install the extension and create a free account, you can use one of the playbook to remove paywall.

Unlike most extensions, this automation can bypass even hard paywalls.

Here is how it works. Most articles get scrapped regularly by public web archives. Bardeen will find your article in those web archives and open them.

Save the currently opened Fiverr search page results to Google Sheets

Try it out! Pick any article from the Economist to see this playbook in action.

Download Bardeen to get started.

ReaderMode - best for soft paywalls

ReaderMode makes articles easier to read. And coincidentally by stripping the design from websites, ReaderMode also removes soft paywalls that come in the form of popups and overlays.

We love ReaderMode because it makes articles easier to read and helps you focus on the actual content you read. You can use both Bardeen and ReaderMode in a combination. First, bypass a hard paywall with Bardeen. And then launch Reader mode to make it pretty.

Unpaywall - scientific articles

Unpaywall is a Chrome extension that unlocks access to 30+ million scientific articles and makes science more accessible.

Here is how it works. You do your research the same way as before. Then, when you open a scholarly article, Unpaywall automatically looks for a copy in its database.

If the extension finds it, a green “unlock” icon will appear on your screen. Click it to get redirected to the full article.

And in case you are wondering, it’s entirely legal. Turns out that most scholarly journals allow their authors to “self-archive" papers on university and government web servers. So technically, you can think about “bypassing the paywall” as finding that article elsewhere on the internet where it’s free.

Bypass Paywall - works with tricky websites

Bypass Paywall will bypass paywalls on 160+ news websites. The creator of this extension went through the most popular news outlets manually and wrote custom logic to bypass paywalls.

The extension pretends to be a Google search bot, which unlocks articles in most cases.

_useGoogleBotSites = useGoogleBotSites.concat(items.customSites);

The extension is open-source on Github and is not in the Chrome store (pretending to be Google isn’t kosher).

So you will need to install BypassPaywall manually. Here is how:

  1. Download the zip from Github
  2. Unzip the file on your computer
  3. Manually install in Chrome.
    Extensions → Enable “Developer Mode” → Click on “Load unpacked”


uBlock

uBlock Origin stops annoying popups on almost all websites. The extension, by default, can prevent paywall popups from loading. With this extension, you won’t even know there was a popup in the first place.

5 Best Chrome extensions to bypass a paywall (6)

How to bypassing a paywall manually

Beyond browser extensions, there are other ways to bypass a paywall. Here are a few additional methods to try.

Try these websites

Try the incognito window

In the incognito mode, cookies are cleared and disabled. And thus, you can often just open a paywalled article in the incognito mode to remove the paywall.

To open an incognito window with a shortcut, press Shift + Command + N.

Remove cookies

Some websites like Medium have metered paywalls. You can read a few articles but then need to subscribe to see more content.

Websites with metered paywalls use cookies to keep track of how many articles you open.

You can usually bypass those paywalls by removing those cookies. Cookie Remover is a great extension to do exactly that.

Paste the article title in Google search

Google ranks articles based on engagement these days. Imagine someone goes to Google, clicks on the first search result, and then bounces right away because of a paywall.

This is obviously suboptimal for the website’s reputation and SEO, so webmasters often make exceptions for visitors coming directly from Google.

Try copying the article title into Google search and open it from Google. Doing this in the incognito mode can help too.

Pro Tip: if you can’t find the article based on the title, add the domain to search “site:https://www.economist.com/”

Emulate social media

Some websites unlock paywalls when people come from social media websites. Imagine some with a subscription shares an article on Facebook, but his friends can’t read it because of the paywall. To prevent this, some news outlets unlock paywalls for those use cases.

To pretend as if you are coming from Facebook, use this URL and add your article link at the end:

https://facebook.com/l.php?u=

Endnotes

Paywalls often disrupt our flow and force us to sift through many alternatives to find basic information.

You can install extensions to bypass the majority of paywalls, both hard and soft. We recommend you to install multiple extensions from this list above as each extension works differently. This way, you don’t have to think about paywalls ever again. If a paywall can be bypassed, the odds are that these extensions above will successfully do it.

Finally, it’s important to support the journalists you love. It takes hard work to write quality content. If you find someone's article really useful (even if you bypassed the paywall to read it), consider contributing. It does make a difference!

Meanwhile, the traditional media will keep trying to stay afloat with paywalls competing with literally everyone on the internet, which is a losing battle. New sustainable ways to monetize content need to be developed without costs to user experience.

If you want to learn more about bypassing paywalls, check out our complete guide here.

5 Best Chrome extensions to bypass a paywall (2024)

FAQs

5 Best Chrome extensions to bypass a paywall? ›

PaywallHub Chrome Extension lets you have your favorite paywall removers all in the same place. Legally browse an archived version of articles in the Internet Archives, 12ft.io, and google caché. Use the one best for you!

What Chrome addon removes paywalls? ›

PaywallHub Chrome Extension lets you have your favorite paywall removers all in the same place. Legally browse an archived version of articles in the Internet Archives, 12ft.io, and google caché. Use the one best for you!

How do I add bypass paywall to Chrome? ›

Installation Instructions

In Chrome/Edge go to the extensions page ( chrome://extensions or edge://extensions ). Enable Developer Mode. Drag the bypass-paywalls-chrome-master folder anywhere on the page to import it (do not delete the folder afterwards).

What is the Chrome extension that makes articles easier to read? ›

BeeLine helps you read more quickly and easily. Try it free and see how much it can help you!

Is Spaywall safe? ›

Spaywall is committed to legal and ethical practices, respecting copyright laws and providing transparent services.

Is removing paywalls illegal? ›

As paywalls proliferate to protect digital media, methods for circumventing those paywalls develop and propagate just as quickly. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits circumventing an effective technological means of control that restricts access to a copyrighted work.

How does 12ft work? ›

12ft.io is a website that allows to selectively browse any site with JavaScript disabled. It also allows some online paywalls to be bypassed. It is currently owned by its creator Thomas Millar.

How to unlock articles for free? ›

How to Get Past a Paywall to Read an Article for Free
  1. Paste the headline into Google. The simplest ways are often the best. ...
  2. Try a Facebook redirect.
  3. Open the link in an incognito window. ...
  4. Disable JavaScript in your browser. ...
  5. Enable "reader mode" ...
  6. Use a VPN. ...
  7. Use Bypass Paywalls from GitHub. ...
  8. Try another browser add-on.
Jun 21, 2024

What are the alternatives to bypass paywalls? ›

A chrome extension that unlocks content

The best alternatives to Bypass Paywalls are Incoggo, 12 Foot Ladder, and RemovePaywall. If these 3 options don't work for you, we've listed a few more alternatives below. What do you think of Bypass Paywalls? The idea is great, and has been very useful.

What is bypass paywalls? ›

Paywall bypass involves techniques that allow users to access premium content behind paywalls without subscribing or paying. In the case of 12ft Ladder, it used a clever tactic of posing as a search engine crawler, exploiting the access granted to legitimate search engines.

What is the most useful extension for Chrome? ›

The best Chrome extensions
  • Bitwarden.
  • Ghostery.
  • Grammarly.
  • Dark Reader.
  • Pocket.
  • Loom.
  • Momentum.
  • OneTab.
Jun 24, 2024

What is the best screen reader extension for Chrome? ›

For more comprehensive solutions, we recommend the use of full system screen readers like ChromeVox on Chrome OS, VoiceOver on Mac, JAWS, NVDA or Narrator on Windows, etc. By installing this extension, you agree to the Google Terms of Service and Privacy Policy at https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/.

What is read&write? ›

Read&Write is a software with features that help students read, write and study independently. This tool offers help with everyday tasks like reading text out loud, understanding new words, helping with assignments, and editing written work.

How to see articles behind paywall? ›

Access News Articles for Free: A Guide to Unlocking Paywalls
  1. 1 Try Incognito mode to bypass a soft paywall.
  2. 2 Install Postlight Reader for Chrome or Edge.
  3. 3 Try Reader Mode on your device.
  4. 4 Try 12ft.io in any browser.
  5. 5 View the archived version of the site or article.
  6. 6 Paste the headline into Google.
Jul 5, 2024

What is PaywallReader? ›

What is the Paywall Reader? The Paywall Reader is a user-friendly application crafted to break through the barriers of digital paywalls, granting users unrestricted access to premium content across the web.

Is Movie Finder extension safe? ›

Following successful infiltration, Movie Finder runs intrusive advertisement campaigns and, due to this, is classified as adware. Additionally, Movie Finder monitors users' browsing activity.

Can you remove paywalls? ›

Use a virtual private network (VPN) 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.

Do paywalls hurt SEO? ›

So, Does Paywalling Harm SEO? No. At least, it doesn't have to. Sure if you put up a solid paywall around all your content and put no effort into SEO, you next to no chance of ranking highly and getting traffic through Google.

What is the Chrome extension to remove ads from articles? ›

We've determined that Total Adblock, NordVPN Threat Protection, AdGuard, AdLock, and uBlock Origin are the best ad blockers for Chrome to access your content smoothly and without ads. All of our chosen ad blockers can help block annoying ads, stop slow page load times, and keep your browsing anonymous without trackers.

What is a paywall blocker? ›

PayWall Blocker: PayWall Blocker is a Chrome extension that hides web articles behind a paywall on the overview pages. Wayback Machine: The Wayback Machine provides access to archived versions of websites, whether or not they were originally behind paywalls.

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