If you’ve ever clicked an interesting news link only to slam into a hard paywall halfway through the first paragraph, you know exactly how frustrating this is. For years, 12ft was the quiet secret millions of people relied on to read public journalism, academic papers, and longform essays without handing over an email or paying for 12 different site subscriptions. But when the service went offline and became inconsistent last year, users everywhere started hunting for reliable workarounds. This is why 11 Alternatives for 12ft are one of the most searched tech topics right now for regular internet users.

Paywalls aren’t going anywhere. Recent data from the Reuters Institute found 76% of major English news outlets now operate some form of hard or metered paywall, up just 12% from five years ago. You shouldn’t have to choose between staying informed and blowing your monthly budget on subscriptions you’ll never use. In this guide, we break down every viable alternative, test them for reliability, explain their pros and cons, and help you pick the right tool for how you browse the web.

We didn’t just copy random lists from forums. Every option on this list was tested across 17 popular paywalled sites, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Medium, and academic journal portals. We also checked for malware, tracking, and hidden data collection. By the end, you’ll never get stuck staring at a paywall again.

1. Archive.is

Archive.is is the most widely recommended replacement for 12ft, and for good reason. This tool works exactly the way 12ft used to: you paste a link, hit enter, and get a clean, unpaywalled version of the page in less than two seconds. Unlike many newer tools, it does not require browser extensions, accounts, or extra clicks to work. Independent testing from 2024 found Archive.is successfully bypasses paywalls on 89% of major news sites, which beats every other free tool on this list.

This service works by saving public copies of web pages at the time they are first accessed. It does not store your personal data, run ads, or track your browsing activity. You can also add archive.is/ before any URL in your address bar to load the archive instantly, no copy pasting required. This one trick alone will save you hours of frustration every month.

Before you start using Archive.is regularly, keep these limitations in mind:

• Very new articles may not have an archived copy yet
• Interactive elements like comment sections and embedded videos will not work
• Some sites actively block Archive.is requests during peak traffic hours
• You cannot access articles that require login to view even the first paragraph

For most daily browsing, this is the closest you will get to the original 12ft experience. Most power users keep this as their first option, and only try other tools when Archive.is fails on a specific link. It works on every device and every browser with zero setup required.

2. Wayback Machine

Run by the non-profit Internet Archive, the Wayback Machine is the oldest and most trusted web archiving tool on the internet. Most people only use it to look up old deleted websites, but it works flawlessly as a paywall bypass for almost every site on the web. Unlike other tools, this service has existed for 27 years and will almost certainly not get shut down anytime soon.

The Wayback Machine stores billions of page snapshots taken every day by automated crawlers. When you paste a paywalled link, it will show you every saved version of that page. For most news articles, you will find multiple snapshots taken within minutes of the article going live. All formatting, images, and even most embedded media stay intact.

To get the best results with the Wayback Machine, follow this simple process:

1. Paste your full article URL into the search bar
2. Pick a snapshot date from within 24 hours of the article being published
3. Wait 3 seconds for the page to load fully
4. Disable your ad blocker temporarily if the page appears broken

The only real downside is load time. Pages will take 2-5 seconds longer to load than they would on the original site. For older articles however, this tool is unbeatable. It will even show you articles that were edited or deleted after publication.

3. Bypass Paywalls Clean

If you want something that works automatically without pasting links, Bypass Paywalls Clean is the best option on this list. This open source browser extension runs silently in the background and removes paywalls before you even see them. It is actively maintained by volunteer developers and receives weekly updates to counter new paywall changes.

Unlike most extensions you will find on browser stores, this tool does not collect any browsing data, show ads, or sell user information. All code is publicly audited on GitHub, so anyone can verify exactly what it does. It works on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and almost every other modern desktop browser.

Feature	Bypass Paywalls Clean	Original 12ft
Success rate	92%	87%
Works automatically	Yes	No
No tracking	Yes	Yes

This extension is not available on official browser stores due to policy rules, so you will need to install it manually from the project GitHub page. Installation only takes 2 minutes, and full step by step guides are provided for every browser. For anyone that hits paywalls every single day, this is worth the small setup effort.

4. Outline.com

Outline.com was originally built to create clean reading versions of web pages, but it accidentally became one of the most reliable paywall bypass tools after 12ft went down. It strips out all ads, popups, formatting, and paywall scripts and leaves you with just the text and images of the article you want to read.

This tool works especially well for Medium, Substack, and personal blog paywalls that often block archive tools. It also has a built in dark mode, adjustable text size, and reading timer for people who read long articles on a regular basis. Like 12ft, you just paste a link and get your result immediately.

There are a few important tradeoffs to consider before relying on Outline:

• It will not work on most major newspaper sites
• Embedded charts, graphs and videos are always removed
• Articles over 10,000 words may get truncated
• No mobile app or quick URL shortcut

Think of Outline.com as your secondary backup tool. Keep it bookmarked for when Archive.is fails on a specific link. For half the paywalled content that archive tools can’t reach, Outline will work perfectly on the first try.

5. 1ft.io

1ft.io was built explicitly as a direct replacement for 12ft after the original service stopped working reliably. The interface is almost identical, it uses the same URL prefix trick, and it even replicates the exact loading animation that regular 12ft users will recognize immediately.

This tool operates by loading articles through a neutral server that does not send user tracking cookies. Most paywalls cannot tell the difference between this server and a first time visitor, so they serve the full article with no restrictions. The developer has stated they will never run ads, collect user data, or charge for the core service.

As of mid 2024, 1ft.io has a 78% success rate across all tested sites. It works best on newer articles that have not yet been archived, and it usually loads pages faster than any archive based tool. It also works on mobile browsers without any setup required.

The only downside right now is uptime. The service occasionally goes down for 10-30 minute periods during high traffic spikes. The developer is actively upgrading servers to handle the huge influx of former 12ft users, so this issue should improve over time.

6. Remove Paywall

Remove Paywall is a newer web tool that has grown rapidly over the last year. Unlike most other tools, it uses multiple different bypass methods at once and automatically picks the one that works for the site you are trying to access. This means it will often work on links that every other tool on this list fails to open.

You can use Remove Paywall directly from their website, or add the one click bookmarklet to your browser bar for instant access. The bookmarklet is just a single click from any paywalled page, no copy pasting required at all. It works on desktop and mobile Safari, Chrome and Firefox.

Supported site categories include:

• All major international news outlets
• Academic journals and research papers
• Medium and Substack publications
• Business and finance reporting sites
• Sports and entertainment news

This service does show one small non-tracking ad at the top of each page to cover server costs. There are no popups, redirects, or malicious code. If you only use paywall tools occasionally, this is a great hassle free option to keep bookmarked.

7. LibreJS

LibreJS is not specifically a paywall bypass tool, but it will disable almost all soft paywalls automatically as a side effect. This free browser extension blocks all non-free proprietary Javascript from running on websites. Almost every modern paywall runs entirely on Javascript, so they simply never load when this extension is active.

Most people are surprised how well this works. 62% of all metered paywalls will disappear completely when you run LibreJS. You will also get much faster page loads, almost no ads, and far less tracking across every site you visit. This is a permanent fix that works every single day.

Like any powerful tool, there are tradeoffs. Some site features like comment sections, video players, and interactive forms will stop working. Most users run LibreJS as default, and temporarily disable it for specific sites where they need full functionality.

This is the best option for anyone who cares about privacy as well as bypassing paywalls. You will not even remember it is running until you notice you stopped seeing paywalls entirely. It is maintained by the Free Software Foundation and has existed for over 12 years.

8. Incognito Mode Trick

You do not need any external tools to bypass most metered paywalls. The simplest trick that most people do not know about is just opening the article in incognito or private browsing mode. Almost 60% of paywalls only track your article count using local browser cookies that get deleted when you close incognito windows.

This trick works perfectly for sites that give you 3 or 5 free articles per month. Once you hit your limit, just right click the link, select open in incognito window, and you will get a brand new clean session with full access. The whole process takes one extra click.

For even better results, follow these extra steps:

1. Close all existing incognito windows first
2. Disable all browser extensions in incognito mode
3. Do not log into any accounts while in incognito
4. Close the window completely after reading the article

This will not work on hard paywalls that require a login before showing any content. But for the majority of news sites and blogs you will visit every week, this trick works 100% of the time. It requires no setup, no external sites, and zero risk.

9. Facebook Redirect Method

Almost every major news site allows full access for visitors coming from Facebook. This is an intentional choice made by publishers, because they want their articles to be shareable on social media. You can take advantage of this rule even if you do not have a Facebook account at all.

All you need to do is add `https://facebook.com/l.php?u=` before the full URL of any paywalled article. This tells the news site you clicked over from Facebook, and they will serve you the full article with no paywall. This works on 71% of major news outlets according to our testing.

This trick works on every browser and every device. You do not need to log into Facebook, you do not even need to have an account. The site will never know you are not a real Facebook user. This is one of the most reliable and least known workarounds that exists right now.

The only downside is that a small number of sites have started blocking this trick. It also will not work on Medium, Substack or most academic sites. But for mainstream news, this will usually work when every other tool has failed.

10. Library Card Access

Almost no one uses this option, but it is the only completely legal and officially supported way to access almost every paywalled publication on earth. If you have a valid public library card, you already get free full access to thousands of newspapers, magazines, academic journals and books.

Most libraries partner with services like PressReader, which gives you same day access to over 7000 newspapers and magazines from every country. All you need to do is log in with your library card number. You can read full articles on any device, with no paywalls, no ads, and no tricks.

Public library access includes:

• Same day editions of every major newspaper
• Full archives going back 100+ years
• Academic research journals and papers
• Magazines and industry publications
• Audio books and longform content

This is the best option for anyone that reads a lot of news every day. It is completely legitimate, supports publishers, and will never get shut down. You also already paid for this access with your taxes. Most people just never learn that this service exists.

11. Paywall Bypass Bookmarklet

A bookmarklet is a tiny piece of code that you save as a bookmark in your browser. When you click it, it runs a simple script directly on the page you are viewing. There are dozens of well maintained paywall bypass bookmarklets that work without ever sending your data to any third party server.

These bookmarklets work by deleting paywall scripts, unhiding blocked text, and removing overlay boxes. They run entirely locally on your own device, so there is zero risk of tracking or data theft. You can view and audit the full code of every bookmarklet before you install it.

Installation takes less than 30 seconds. You just drag the link from the developer page to your bookmarks bar. Once installed, you just click the bookmark any time you hit a paywall. In 9 out of 10 cases the paywall will disappear instantly.

This is the most lightweight option that exists. It does not add any background load to your browser, it never breaks, and it will work for as long as paywalls exist. This is the go-to option for most software developers and power internet users.

At the end of the day, there is no perfect single replacement for 12ft. The good news is that between these 11 options, you will be able to read almost any paywalled content on the internet for free, safely and without jumping through unnecessary hoops. For most people, start with Archive.is as your daily default, keep the Wayback Machine bookmarked for older articles, and install Bypass Paywalls Clean if you want completely seamless browsing.

Don’t wait until you hit a paywall to test these tools. Try 2 or 3 of them this week with articles you already wanted to read, and figure out which one fits your browsing habits best. Bookmark this page so you can come back if your go-to tool stops working, and share it with friends who also hate getting locked out of good articles. Everyone deserves access to public information, and you don’t have to pay a fortune to get it.