🔓 Bypass Paywalls on Any Site

:unlocked: Best Free Tools to Bypass Paywalls

Because the internet forgot it was supposed to be free, and we’re here to remind it.

Snl Will Not GIF by Saturday Night Live


:world_map: One-Line Flow: Install BPC for news → Freedium for Medium → Sci-Hub for papers → yt-dlp for videos → done, you’re free.


:brain: 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.


:high_voltage: 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.


:rolled_up_newspaper: News Sites — Bypass Paywalls Clean (BPC)

The king. 100+ sites. Updated weekly. Install once, paywalls disappear.

📥 How to Install (2 minutes)

Chrome / Edge / Brave:

  1. Download from gitflic.ru/project/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean
  2. Unzip the file
  3. Go to chrome://extensions
  4. Turn on “Developer mode” (top right)
  5. Click “Load unpacked” → select the folder
  6. 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

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Indian link shorteners giving you cancer? We got you


:mobile_phone: 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.

:warning: 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

:graduation_cap: 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
Tool What Link
Sci-Hub X Now One-click download, auto-finds working mirrors Firefox / Edge
Break Down the Walls Sci-Hub + LibGen in one extension Firefox
Open in Sci-Hub Right-click any DOI Chrome

:books: 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


:money_bag: 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

:clapper_board: 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 :star: 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

:globe_with_meridians: 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

:file_cabinet: 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

:scroll: 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

12ft.io:

javascript:window.location='https://12ft.io/'+location.href

:robot: Bots & Mobile

🤖 Telegram Bots
Bot What Link
@hidewallbot Send link → get article Telegram
Bypass-Paywalls-Bot Self-host your own GitHub
📱 Mobile Tricks

iOS 18: Safari → tap reader icon → “Hide Distracting Items” → tap paywall → “Hide”

Android: Install Kiwi Browser, add BPC extension. Done.


:desktop_computer: Self-Hosted (Maximum Power)

🖥️ Run Your Own Server
Tool What Link
Ladder :star: Pretends to be Googlebot. Best option. github.com/everywall/ladder
13ft Self-hosted 12ft.io replacement github.com/wasi-master/13ft

:puzzle_piece: 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

:bullseye: 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)

:warning: Reality Check

Soft paywalls = Content loads, popup hides it. Everything works. :white_check_mark:

Hard paywalls = Server won’t send content without payment. Try archives. Sometimes you take the L. :warning:


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. :victory_hand:


Guide compiled for educational purposes. Or whatever you need to tell yourself.

season 7 showtime GIF by Shameless

28 Likes

Nice share :slight_smile:

or disable scripts of your browser. simple. you don’t have to follow the hard path

Topic is now updated! :ballet_dancer:

4 Likes

:fire: Just dropped a fat update — more tools, more tricks, more free shit. Scroll up and grab the goods, 1Hackers :skull_and_crossbones:

3 Likes

Is there any way to bypass substack article?

Short answer: Yeah… but Substack is a stubborn bastard.

Long answer: We went deep into this rabbit hole. Substack isn’t like those news sites where the article loads and then a popup covers it. Nope. The paid content literally doesn’t exist on the page until you pay. It’s locked on their servers. That’s why most bypass tools just stare at it and cry.

But.

We found the cracks. :hole:


🎯 The Stuff That Actually Works

1. The “One Free Hit” Trick

Substack gives every free subscriber ONE free unlock of a paid article. Just one. Ever.

How: Subscribe for free → click “Claim free post” when you see it → use it wisely, you only get one shot.

Catch: Only works if you don’t have the Substack app installed. Yeah, weird flex but okay.


2. The 7-Day Freebie

Most paid Substacks offer a 7-day free trial.

How: Subscribe with your card → read everything you want → cancel before day 7 → pay nothing.

Pro tip: Set a phone reminder. Don’t be that guy who forgets and donates $5 to some random newsletter.


3. Beg The Author (Nicely)

This sounds dumb but it works more than you’d think. Authors can “comp” anyone for free with like 2 clicks.

How: DM them on Twitter/Notes or email. Say something like:

“Hey, loved your free stuff, really want to read [article name] but I’m broke as hell right now. Any chance you could hook me up?”

Worst case: they ignore you. Best case: free access forever.


4. Hunt For Gift Links

Every paid subscriber gets 5 free 1-month gift links to share with friends.

How: Find someone in the reddit comments who’s a paid subscriber. Ask if they’ve got a spare gift link.

It’s basically asking strangers for candy, but legal.


5. Secret Draft Links (The Holy Grail)

Authors have special links that bypass paywalls completely. They use them to share drafts with editors, but sometimes they post them publicly when promoting their articles.

Where to find them: Twitter, Substack Notes, Reddit threads. Search: [author name] + "draft" OR "preview" OR "full post"

It’s rare, but when you find one — chef’s kiss.


6. Archive Lottery

If someone saved the article on archive.today BEFORE it got paywalled, you win.

How: Go to archive.today/[paste the substack URL here]

Success rate: Like 20%. But free is free.


7. BPC Extension (Tech-ish)

Bypass Paywalls Clean has Substack on its list, but it’s hit or miss.

How: Install BPC → Options → Enable “Custom Sites” → Check Substack → Clear cookies

Works maybe 30% of the time. Better than nothing.


❌ What Doesn't Work (Save Your Time)
Method Why It Fails
Incognito mode Content isn’t even loaded
Disabling JavaScript Same — nothing to show
Reader mode Can’t read what ain’t there
12ft Ladder Dead + can’t cache server-locked content
Freedium Only works on Medium, not Substack
Inspect element You can delete the popup but there’s no content behind it

Substack actually did their homework. Respect the enemy.


🧠 Why Is Substack So Damn Hard?

Most paywalls work like this:

Load the full article → cover it with a popup → hope you don’t know how to delete the popup

Substack works like this:

You want the article? Cool, authenticate first. No auth = no content sent to your browser. Period.

It’s not hiding the content. The content literally isn’t there until you’re verified as a paid subscriber.

That’s why archive tools, JavaScript tricks, and most extensions just… don’t work.


⚡ Quick Gameplan If You Just Want To Read ONE Article
  1. Check archive.today/[URL] — might be lucky
  2. Use your ONE free teaser unlock (if you haven’t already)
  3. Ask a paid subscriber for a gift link
  4. DM the author — seriously, just ask
  5. 7-day trial + cancel (last resort, requires card)

That’s the playbook. Pick your weapon.


The honest truth: Substack is one of the few paywalls where the janitor actually locked the door AND took the key home. But they left a few windows cracked — gift links, that one free unlock, and just straight up asking the author are your best bets.


5 Likes

MEDIUM SITE NOT WORKING

Use another one, check properly

Can I bypass the Patreon site too?? I tried it, but it didn’t work. (Not the kemono method)

Bad news: Patreon is another hard paywall bastard. Just like Substack, the content doesn’t exist on the page until you’re authenticated. No CSS trick, no JavaScript toggle — the data literally isn’t sent to your browser.

You said “not the Kemono method” — so I assume you already know about:

  • kemono.su / kemono.cr (same site, just domain-hopped again)
  • Coomer.su (sister site, but mostly OnlyFans/real-person content, not artists)

So let me dig into what else exists


🎯 What Actually Works (Non-Kemono Edition)

1. The 7-Day Free Trial

A lot of Patreon creators have this enabled. Subscribe → binge → cancel before day 7.

The catch: You need a card, and you can only do this ONCE per creator, per payment method. If you already subbed to them before — even years ago — no trial for you.

Pro tip: Cancel immediately after subscribing. Patreon still gives you the full 7 days.


2. Telegram Channels

There are dedicated Telegram channels that dump Patreon content for specific creators — especially reaction channels, podcasts, and art.

How to find:

  • Search Telegram for [creator name] patreon
  • Or just search “patreon leaks” / “hidden patreon”
  • Example: t.me/patreon_hidden (reaction videos)

Hit or miss depending on who you’re looking for.


3. Discord Servers

Same deal. There are Discord communities that share Patreon content — especially for anime reaction channels and art.

How to find:

  • Search Disboard: disboard.org/servers/tag/patreon
  • Search Discord server lists for [creator name] free
  • gojo2.com has reaction video archives

4. Reddit

Some creators or fans post Patreon content on subreddits. Usually gets DMCA’d fast, but sometimes you get lucky.

How: Search Reddit for [creator name] patreon or check if there’s a dedicated subreddit for that creator.


5. Ask the Creator Directly

Not a joke. Some creators will literally comp you if you DM them and explain your situation. They can give free access with 2 clicks.

Works better with smaller creators. The big ones get too many requests.


6. Creator’s Other Platforms

Many Patreon creators also post on:

  • Their own Discord (sometimes free tier exists)
  • YouTube (full/partial versions)
  • Twitter/X (teasers, sometimes full posts)
  • Their personal website

Always worth checking if they have content floating elsewhere.


❌ What Doesn't Work
Method Why It Fails
Archive.today / Wayback Patreon blocks crawlers + content is auth-gated
BPC / Bypass Paywalls Clean Doesn’t support Patreon
“Patreon Viewer” tools 99% are scams or malware. If a site asks you to “complete a survey” — run.
Incognito / cookies Content isn’t loaded without auth
Inspect element Nothing to inspect — the data isn’t there

🔥 Kemono Alternatives You Might Not Know

Since you mentioned “not Kemono” — I’m guessing it’s either down for you or doesn’t have your creator. Here’s the ecosystem:

Site What It Covers Status
kemono.su / kemono.cr Patreon, Fanbox, Fantia, Gumroad, SubscribeStar Active (domain changes often)
Coomer.su OnlyFans, Fansly (real-person content) Active
Various Telegram channels Specific creators, reaction videos, podcasts Scattered but active
Discord servers Art, reactions, podcasts Active

If Kemono doesn’t have your creator, it means nobody’s importing their content. The site relies on paid subscribers uploading — so obscure creators just don’t get added.


🧠 The Janitor Logic on Patreon
Who Has Access? The Leak Point
Paid subscribers They can screenshot/download and share elsewhere
Creators Can comp anyone for free
Telegram/Discord communities Aggregate leaked content
Free trial users 7 days of full access

The pattern: Patreon itself is airtight. The leaks happen through the people, not the platform.


Bottom line: If Kemono doesn’t have what you’re looking for, your best bets are:

  1. Free trial (if available)
  2. Telegram/Discord hunting
  3. Reddit deep dive
  4. Just asking the creator

Patreon’s paywall is solid. The workarounds exist, but they’re social, not technical.


3 Likes

Thank you. i see

non of them working for medium

@DukeForever

:white_check_mark: Fixed it — freedium.cfd got 403’d, mirror’s up now. Check the Medium section again. :counterclockwise_arrows_button:

4 Likes

Works like a charm, much appreciated share

2 Likes

Did you find out yet?
im also a addict of substack.. please let me know if you found out the ways to read paid post without paying.
Thanks! i wish ..

mediums working?

what do you think about Substack?

can i bypass Lootbar.gg? they are bunch of scammers, i really wanna take advantage of them if its possible