Paywalls, and How to Install Bypass Paywalls Clean

How to Bypass Paywalls Bypass Paywalls Clean

As far as tools for circumventing paywalls go, the Bypass Paywalls Clean extension is as good as things get. It was originally available on the Chrome Web Store and Add-ons for Firefox website, but after being hit with a DMCA takedown notice in 2023 it was removed from both sites and ported over to GitLab. After another takedown notice (and another after that on GitHub), the extension was moved to GitFlic, a repository owned and maintained by a Russian technology company.

Bypass Paywalls Clean can be installed as an extension in CRX and XPI formats, as a userscript, and as an adblocker list (ie, a text file). The adblocker list works well – I've tested it on Android using Via and Brave, both of which have adblockers that support custom filterlists and/or filter subscriptions.

The latest CRX and XPI releases can be downloaded from the GitFlic repo and used on pretty much any PC browser. Installing the XPI file on Firefox for Android is straightforward (the browser needs to be in Developer Mode to accomplish this), but installing the CRX release on a phone is more problematic since few Chromium browsers allow users to manually add extensions. This said, Edge Canary and Quetta can be used (as with Firefox, Edge Canary needs to be in Developer Mode) and the results are exemplary.

The only issue worth noting is that Edge Canary and Quetta are quite intrusive in terms of telemetry. Fortunately it's easy to identify the outbound pings and add them to the denylist in whatever Private DNS service you're using. I use Next DNS for this purpose and it works like a charm. Off the top of my head, Quetta pings three or four endpoints in China – they're all easy to spot and neutralize.

As for the userscript, I've not been able to get it to work. It's easy enough to install on a browser such as Via, but it wouldn't bypass the paywall on the New York Times. It might be fine on other sites, but the New York Times is my benchmark for deciding if the software is worth keeping.

How to Bypass Paywalls Brave Shields

If you've ever used Brave, you may have noticed that inside the browser's Shields section is a Content Filtering option that includes numerous filters, one of which is a paywall blocker. It looks promising, except it doesn't work on the New York Times. I've tested this on the browser's PC and Android versions, and the outcomes are the same. It's simply not as effective as Bypass Paywalls Clean.

An interesting point here concerns the legality of paywall blockers. It's an issue that's been discussed across a broad spectrum of sources – everything from Reddit to reputable law journals, in fact. But I've found no clear consensus as to whether circumventing paywalls is legal or not. If it is illegal, surely the lawyers would go after Brave. They're a multi-million dollar company and, by default, their browser ships with a built-in paywall blocker.

But nothing of the sort has ever happened. Lawyers have not gone after Brave and at no time has the tech press reported any warnings or legal action.

Paywalls Overview

The four main types of paywall are outlined below. Some authors also talk about a fifth type, Dynamic Paywalls, which typically use AI to tweak the paywall settings in response to users' behavior.

• Soft Paywall Some content is free and in certain cases it may be possible to read the bulk of an article before being informed that a subscription is required in order to continue.

• Hard Paywall Content is subscription only, nothing is free. This is the most polarizing type of paywall since it's not always easy for users to assess the quality of what's on offer.

• Metered Paywall This is a fairly common approach – the site grants users permission to read, say, a maximum of five free articles per month.

• Freemium Paywall These keep basic content completely free for everyone while charging only for premium articles, special features, or bonus materials.

A great deal of thought has been given to the design of paywalls, and researchers have embraced the opportunity to conduct a slew of surveys to assess their effectiveness. A recent study, for example, concluded that best results can be achieved by combining discounts with a "less is more" approach. In this context, "less is more" refers to the teaser elements that sit in front of paywalls. These elements usually include the header, image, lede and intro.

Researchers found that revealing too many teaser elements correlates with a reduced likelihood of users subscribing. To me, this makes sense. If sufficient information is available in front of the paywall, users might feel they've learned enough to grasp the story and don't need to subscribe lo learn more.

As for discounts, subscription plans for some of the best known news sites are shown below. Prices will doubtless change according to date and region, but are correct as of early September 2026.