Bypass Paywalls

Bypass Paywalls is a web browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites.

Installation Instructions

Google Chrome / Microsoft Edge (Custom sites supported) 1. Download this repo as a ZIP file from GitHub. 1. Unzip the file and you should have a folder named bypass-paywalls-chrome-master. 1. In Chrome/Edge go to the extensions page (chrome://extensions or edge://extensions). 1. Enable Developer Mode. 1. Drag the bypass-paywalls-chrome-master folder anywhere on the page to import it (do not delete the folder afterwards).

Mozilla Firefox (Custom sites not supported)

Download and install the latest version

Notes

Every time you open Chrome it may warn you about running extensions in developer mode, just click ✕ to keep the extension enabled.
You will be logged out for any site you have checked.
This extension works best alongside the adblocker uBlock Origin.
The Firefox version supports automatic updates.

Sites with limited number of free articles

The free article limit can normally be bypassed by removing cookies for the site.*

Install the Cookie Remover extension for Google Chrome or for Mozilla Firefox. Please rate it 5 stars if you find it useful.

When coming across a paywall click the cookie icon to remove the cookies then refresh the page.

*May not always succeed

New site requests

Only large or major sites will be considered. Usually premium articles cannot be bypassed as they are behind a hard paywall.

Install the uBlock Origin extension if it hasn’t been installed already. See if you are still getting a paywall.
Check if using Cookie Remover (Google Chrome version or Mozilla Firefox version) can bypass the paywall. If not, continue to the next step.
First search Issues to see if the site has been requested already.
Visit an article on the site you want to bypass the paywall for and copy the article title.
Open up a new incognito window (Ctrl+Shift+N on Chrome) or Private window (Ctrl+Shift+P on Firefox), and paste the article title into Google.
Click on the same article from the Google search results page.
If it loads without a paywall you can submit a request and replace the entire template text with the word “Confirmed”. Otherwise please do not submit an issue as this extension cannot bypass it either.

Troubleshooting

This extension works best alongside uBlock Origin for Google Chrome or for Mozilla Firefox.
If a site doesn’t work, try turning off uBlock and refreshing.
Try clearing cookies.
Make sure you’re running the latest version of Bypass Paywalls.
If a site is having problems try unchecking “*General Paywall Bypass*” in Options.
If none of these work, you can submit an issue here.

Contributing - Pull Requests

PRs are welcome. 1. If making a PR to add a new site, confirm your changes actually bypass the paywall. 2. At a minimum these files need to be updated: README.md, manifest-ff.json, src/js/sites.js, and possibly src/js/background.js, and/or src/js/contentScript.js. 3. Follow existing code-style and use camelCase. 4. Use JavaScript Semi-Standard Style linter. Don’t need to follow it exactly. There will be some errors (e.g., do not use it on sites.js).

Show your support

Follow me on Twitter @iamadamdev for updates.
I do not ask for donations, all I ask is that you star this repo.

Disclaimer

This software is provided for educational purposes only and is provided “AS IS”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement. in no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the software.