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.
The honest limit
No free tool beats a hard subscription wall (WSJ, FT, Bloomberg) unless a public archive of that specific article exists. Any tool claiming to crack every paywall is overpromising.
Our pick
RemovePaywall combines reader extraction with archive.today, the Wayback Machine and a sandboxed proxy, works in 7 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 sandboxed proxy | Yes (web; optional extension) | Yes | 7 | 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 |
RemovePaywall is the only option that's reader-first and archive-backed, works in 7 languages, and publishes live per-site success rates.
Live success rates
Unlike other tools, RemovePaywall shows how often it actually works, from real usage — recent examples: The New Yorker ~98% · WIRED ~98% · The Atlantic ~97% · Business Insider ~90% · The New York Times ~62%. See the full live list.
FAQ
What is the best free paywall remover in 2026?
Reader-first, archive-backed tools like RemovePaywall are the most reliable free option; archive.today is a good manual fallback.
Are paywall removers legal?
Reputable ones surface publicly-archived copies and the text a page already sends — they do not crack hard subscriptions. If you read a publication often, please subscribe.
Do any work on WSJ or Bloomberg?
Only when a public archive of the specific article exists. Hard subscription walls are not beaten by any free tool otherwise.