Archive.today is also known as Archive.is or Archive.ph, is the most robust and reliable way to get around most paywalled sites.
This article is for informational purposes only.
I don't condone you to use Archive.Today to access subscription websites.
This web-archiving service takes a 'snapshot' of the web page that will always be online even if the original page has changed or been deleted.
It is a web archiving tool that is similar to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
You can use any of these Archive.Today domains:
https://archive.today/
https://archive.ph/
https://archive.is/
https://archive.li/
https://archive.vn/
https://archive.fo/
https://archive.md/
It can get past paywalls of iPolitics, American Banker, American Affairs, Philadelphia Business Journal, Albuquerque Journal, and many more websites.
How does it work: Archive.today does not actually circumvent paywalls per se.
It mimics a search engine or archival bot to access and take snapshots of archived versions of pages that may have been publicly accessible before being paywalled.
Once a page is archived, you can access it through a unique URL provided by Archive.today.
You can view the content as it appeared at the time of archiving, even if the original page is now behind a paywall.
Then when anyone else later try to access the paywalled article through Archive.today, they are not actually bypassing that article.
Instead, they are viewing the static, archived copy that Archive.today stored.
Possibly it can also bypass the JavaScript that tracks the number of views and display restrictions.
Another way is Archive. Today ignores the cookies and session data that track the number of articles the reader has viewed.
This is another post from The DiGiztal Bypass Paywalls Tips series.
Archive.today to bypass paywalled articles
There are three ways people use the Archive. Today to access blocked online articles.
1. Use the save or search function.
This is what they do:
Go to Archive.Today website.
Paste the article URL in the space provided under "My url is alive and I want to archive its content".
Then click the "save" button.
For example, they want to read this paywalled The Japan Times article, "Japan avoids tariff confrontation ahead of crucial U.S. trade talks".
Paste the following URL in the space provided: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/04/14/economy/japan-tariffs-ishiba/
Click the "Save" button.
This article has already been archived; they can read it straight away.
If the article is obsolete, you can save it again.
Suppose it says "No results", together with the list of 5 options to do.
Click the first option, "archive this url".
It would begin loading and archiving the article.
Scroll down a little; there is a black color box with the text: "I want to search the archive for saved snapshots".
After it has finished archiving it, they can see the complete article right there.
Alternatively, you can use the second "search" option.
Scroll down a little; there is a black color box with the text: "I want to search the archive for saved snapshots".
Paste the article URL inside the box provided, then click the "search" button.
2. Add https://archive.ph/ in front of article url
Prepend https://archive.ph/ to the blocked article URL.
For the example the article URL is:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/21/what-the-world-learned-from-donald-trumps-tariff-week
After adding https://archive.ph/ to the URL, it looks like this:
https://archive.ph/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/21/what-the-world-learned-from-donald-trumps-tariff-week
Press the "Enter" key, and you can see the article in the Archive.Today site.
Then click the image or the URL to view the full article.
3. Use Archive.Today extension
For ease of use, install its browser extension to your Chrome or Firefox.
It comes with this icon in your browser toolbar.
Click on the icon, and it opens the archived page of the article in a new tab.
The original archive. Today extension for Chrome has been removed from the Chrome Web Store.
But they can still install this extension to Chrome browser.
Follow this tutorial, "How to install Archive.Today extension to Chrome".
If not, use either of these two alternate versions of Archive.Today Google Chrome extensions:
For the Firefox browser, get it from here.
Otherwise, use this similar Firefox browser extension called One-Click Archive.Today extension.
This is how the icon at the toolbar looks:
For Microsoft Edge browser, install this Archive.Today extension.
4. Archive.Today BookMarklet
Besides its browser extension, they can also use the JavaScript bookmarklet to open archived webpages
They can use any of these four bookmarklet codes to read NYTimes, WSJ or Financial Times articles for free.
javascript:location.href = '//archive.ph/newest/' + location.href.split('?')[0];
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javascript:void(location.href='https://archive.today/'+location.href);
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javascript: (() => { const destination = "https://archive.is/"; { window.open(destination + document.location.href); }})();
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javascript: window.open("https://archive.ph/" + location.href, "_blank");
For more detail, read this tip how to use JavaScript bookmarklet to bypass paywalls.
These are tips on how to use Archive.Today to bypass paywalled articles.
With this free tool, you can access many paywalled websites, including The Japan Times, The New York Review of Books, The Economist, New York Magazine, The Spectator, and Wired.
NOTE: This method may not involve direct hacking or unauthorized access; it can still violate anti-circumvention laws and terms of service. Consider using the legal and ethical ways to access paywalled web articles.
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DISCLAIMER: This post is for educational purposes only. It aims to help you better understand web technologies and digital security. It does not endorse breaking website rules or illegal activity. Use responsibly; the author is not liable for misuse or legal issues.