The best free paywall removers in 2026
After 12ft.io shut down, several free tools compete to read past paywalls. Here is an honest comparison — what each actually does, and where each works best.
What to look for
The most reliable free tools are reader-first (they extract the article) and archive-backed (they fall back to archive.today and the Wayback Machine). Single-trick tools like the old 12ft crawler spoof mostly stopped working once publishers added bot protection.
Where archives come in
On a hard subscription wall (WSJ, The Times, The Washington Post) the full text comes from a public archive of that specific article, which RemovePaywall checks for you. Any tool claiming to crack every paywall is overpromising.
Our pick
RemovePaywall combines reader extraction with archive.today, the Wayback Machine and a full-page view, works in 10 languages, and — unlike the others — publishes live per-site success rates so you can see what actually works before you rely on it.
Free paywall tools compared (2026)
| Tool | How it works | No install | No login | Languages | Shows success rates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RemovePaywall | Reader-first extraction, then archive.today + Wayback, then a full-page view | Yes (web; optional extension) | Yes | 10 | Yes — live, per site |
| archive.today | Public archive lookup only | Yes | Yes | — | No |
| Bypass Paywall Reader | Aggregator — redirects you to archives (Wayback, archive.today, others) | Yes | Yes | 5 | No |
| Smry.ai | AI reader + article summaries | Yes (also an extension) | Free tier; Pro is paid | — | No |
| Bypass Paywalls Clean | Browser extension with per-site rules | No — sideload from GitHub | Yes | — | No |
Live success rates
Unlike other tools, RemovePaywall publishes how often it works for each outlet, measured from real use. See the live list.
Got an article in mind? Try it now: