Best Free Tools to Bypass Paywalls
Because the internet forgot it was supposed to be free, and we’re here to remind it.

One-Line Flow: Install BPC for news → Freedium for Medium → Sci-Hub for papers → yt-dlp for videos → done, you’re free.
The Philosophy (Why This Works)
Here’s the secret nobody tells you:
Most “paywalls” aren’t walls at all. They’re just locked doors with the key hanging right next to them.
News sites let Google read everything for free (so they show up in search). Academic papers exist in free copies on university servers. Videos are already streaming to your browser — you’re just not saving them.
These tools don’t “hack” anything. They just ask nicely — the way Google does, the way archives do, the way the system already allows.
“Why pick the lock when you can just ask the janitor?”
That’s the whole trick. Let’s use it.
The “I Don’t Want to Think” Starter Pack
For 90% of people, install these three things and never think about it again:
| What | Handles | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Bypass Paywalls Clean | All news sites | See install below |
| Freedium bookmark | Medium articles | freedium.cfd |
| yt-dlp | Any video anywhere | github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp |
That’s it. You’re done. Everything below is for when you want MORE.
News Sites — Bypass Paywalls Clean (BPC)
The king. 100+ sites. Updated weekly. Install once, paywalls disappear.
📥 How to Install (2 minutes)
Chrome / Edge / Brave:
- Download from gitflic.ru/project/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean
- Unzip the file
- Go to
chrome://extensions - Turn on “Developer mode” (top right)
- Click “Load unpacked” → select the folder
- Done. Paywalls are now decorative.
Firefox: Same link, one-click install.
Android: Use Kiwi Browser or Firefox Nightly — both support extensions.
Main link dead? Check @magnolia1234b on X
Indian link shorteners giving you cancer? We got you
Medium — Because $5/month for Blog Posts is Insane
Medium went from “free blogging for everyone” to “pay us to read someone’s shower thoughts.”
Fastest fix: Go to freedium-mirror.cfd, paste link, read free.
Backup: removepaywall.com — try options 4 or 5 if first fails.
🔖 One-Click Bookmarklet (Set Once, Use Forever)
Make a bookmark with this as the URL:
javascript:window.location.href="https://freedium-mirror.cfd/"+location.href
Click it on any Medium article. Instant unlock.
Note: Original freedium.cfd is dead (403). Use the mirror domain above.
📱 More Medium Tools
| Tool | What | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Medium Parser Extension | Button on every page | github.com/Xatta-Trone/medium-parser-extension |
| Medium Unlocker | Android app + web | github.com/inulute/medium-unlocker |
| Freedium Mobile | Phone app | github.com/AmanSikarwar/freedium_mobile |
| RemovePaywall Extension | Chrome/Firefox | removepaywall.com |
Academic Papers — $35 Per PDF is a Crime Against Knowledge
Researchers get paid nothing from these fees. Publishers pocket everything. Fuck 'em.
The Legal Way (Actually Works Great)
✅ Find Free Copies That Already Exist
| Tool | The Janitor Trick | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Unpaywall | Authors post free copies on university servers — this finds them | github.com/ourresearch/unpaywall-extension |
| Open Access Button | Searches 50k+ repositories, can email authors directly | Chrome |
| CORE | 280M+ open access papers aggregated | core.ac.uk |
The “I Don’t Care” Way
🔬 Sci-Hub Tools
Books & Textbooks — $200 for Knowledge is Gatekeeping
📖 Free Book Tools
| Tool | What | Link |
|---|---|---|
| OpenLib | Beautiful app for Anna’s Archive | github.com/dstark5/Openlib |
| Amazon to LibGen | See book on Amazon → one click to find it free | Greasyfork |
| z-search | “Search Z-Library” button on Amazon | github.com/thestoneroller/z-search |
| LibGen CLI | Command line power | github.com/ciehanski/libgen-cli |
Direct sites: annas-archive.org / libgen.is
Finance Sites — Bloomberg, WSJ, FT
The $40/month ones. The expensive bastards.
📈 Finance Bypasses
| Tool | Sites | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Bloomberg Paywall Bypass | Bloomberg | Greasyfork |
| free-ft | Financial Times | github.com/arkadiyt/free-ft |
| article-paywall-bypass | WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg | github.com/christophior/article-paywall-bypass |
| Burlesco | FT with comments | github.com/burlesco/burlesco |
Video & Media — Everything Streams, Everything Downloads
Your browser already receives the video. These tools just let you keep it.
📺 Video Downloaders
| Tool | What It Does | Link |
|---|---|---|
| yt-dlp |
Downloads from 1000+ sites. The legend. | github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp |
| Cobalt | Web UI — paste link, download. Zero install. | cobalt.tools |
| gallery-dl | Images from any gallery/collection | github.com/mikf/gallery-dl |
| spotDL | Spotify metadata → YouTube audio. Clever bastard. | github.com/spotDL/spotify-downloader |
📺 Alternative YouTube Frontends (No Ads, No Tracking)
| Tool | What | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Invidious | YouTube without Google watching | invidious.io |
| Piped | Modern YouTube frontend + SponsorBlock | piped.video |
| NewPipe | Android YouTube app, no account needed | github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe |
| ProxiTok | TikTok without the surveillance | github.com/pablouser1/ProxiTok |
🎯 Crowdsourced Intelligence
| Tool | What | Link |
|---|---|---|
| SponsorBlock | Skip sponsor segments automatically | sponsor.ajay.app |
| Return YouTube Dislike | Brings back dislike counts | github.com/Anarios/return-youtube-dislike |
Web Services — Zero Install, Just Paste
| Service | Best For | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Freedium | Medium | freedium.cfd |
| PaywallSkip | News sites | paywallskip.com |
| RemovePaywalls | 100+ sites | removepaywalls.com |
| smry.ai | AI summary + bypass | smry.ai |
| archive.today | Cached snapshots | archive.today |
Archive Tools — If It Was Ever Public, It’s Still Somewhere
🗄️ Archive Extensions
| Tool | What | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Wayback Machine | Official extension, auto-checks caches | Chrome / Firefox |
| Web Archives | Searches 10+ archive services at once | github.com/nicetip/web-archives |
| Web Cache Viewer | Right-click → cached version | Chrome |
Userscripts & Bookmarklets
🔧 Userscripts (Need Tampermonkey/Violentmonkey)
| Script | What | Link |
|---|---|---|
| SpectreView | Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Quora, Medium — all in one | github.com/AyushParkara/SpectreView |
| Bypass Paywalls Userscript | BPC as a script | github.com/novvoo/bypass-paywalls-userscript |
📌 Bookmarklets (Old School Power)
Archive.today:
javascript:window.location='https://archive.today/'+location.href
Freedium:
javascript:window.location.href="https://freedium.cfd/"+location.href
javascript:window.location='https://12ft.io/'+location.href
Bots & Mobile
🤖 Telegram Bots
📱 Mobile Tricks
iOS 18: Safari → tap reader icon → “Hide Distracting Items” → tap paywall → “Hide”
Android: Install Kiwi Browser, add BPC extension. Done.
Self-Hosted (Maximum Power)
🖥️ Run Your Own Server
| Tool | What | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Ladder |
Pretends to be Googlebot. Best option. | github.com/everywall/ladder |
| 13ft | Self-hosted 12ft.io replacement | github.com/wasi-master/13ft |
The Pattern — Why These Work
| Trick | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Googlebot disguise | News sites serve full content to crawlers for SEO |
| Archive snapshots | Content was public once → still saved somewhere |
| Cookie reset | “3 free articles” resets when cookies clear |
| Open APIs | Platforms publicly serve data, we consume it differently |
| Metadata arbitrage | Use Spotify’s API to find songs on YouTube |
Quick Reference — What Do I Use?
| Situation | Solution |
|---|---|
| News article | Bypass Paywalls Clean |
| Medium post | freedium.cfd |
| Academic paper | Unpaywall (legal) or Sci-Hub (don’t care) |
| Textbook | Anna’s Archive / LibGen |
| Bloomberg/WSJ/FT | Check Finance section above |
| YouTube video | yt-dlp or cobalt.tools |
| Don’t want to install anything | paywallskip.com |
| On phone | Kiwi Browser (Android) / Reader mode (iOS) |
Reality Check
Soft paywalls = Content loads, popup hides it. Everything works. ![]()
Hard paywalls = Server won’t send content without payment. Try archives. Sometimes you take the L. ![]()
The internet was built to share information freely.
Then corporations decided “access to knowledge” was a subscription business.
These tools just remind the web what it was supposed to be.
Go read your free shit. ![]()
Guide compiled for educational purposes. Or whatever you need to tell yourself.

!