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Avoiding Paywalls (cross-browser solution)

Here's a quick bookmarklet for avoiding paywalls on most sites. It uses archive.is.

Drag this link (Skip Paywall) to your Bookmarks Bar. If that doesn't work, create a new bookmark on any page, and then edit the URL to the following:

javascript:window.location.href='https://archive.is/newest/'+window.location.href

In short, it uses a quick JavaScript function to prefix the current URL with the newest instance of the cached/archived content from archive.is.

This works on a ton of sites, such as:

  • WSJ
  • NYT
  • The Athletic

On iOS, I use this shortcut shared on Reddit, which does something similar with the added benefit of dropping directly into "Reader" mode on iOS, so you easily read the content on a smaller screen.