UK & Ireland
British and Irish newspapers and magazines: which paywalls can be skipped and which cannot.
30 guides
The Fence Paywall: How to Read The Fence Magazine for Free
The Fence keeps most of its long reads for subscribers. How the London magazine gates its site, which pieces are open, and how to read a full article.
The Clare Echo Paywall: How to Read Clare Echo Articles for Free
The Clare Echo puts much of its County Clare news and GAA coverage behind a subscriber paywall. How the paywall works and how to read a full Clare Echo article.
The Ferret Paywall: How to Read Scottish Investigations for Free
The Ferret, Scotland's investigative journalism co-operative, meters its stories for non-members. How the paywall works and how to read a full investigation.
London Review of Books Paywall: How to Read LRB Essays Without a Subscription
The London Review of Books meters its site and locks most essays after a few free reads. How the LRB paywall works and how to read a full essay or blog post.
Architects' Journal Paywall: How to Read AJ Articles for Free
The Architects' Journal locks most of its news and features behind a subscription. How the AJ paywall works and how to read a full article without subscribing.
The Loadstar Paywall: How to Read Freight and Shipping News for Free
The Loadstar meters its freight, shipping and logistics news and marks its best analysis premium. How the paywall works and how to read a full Loadstar story.
Motor Sport Magazine Paywall: How to Read Motor Sport Articles for Free
Motor Sport Magazine meters its F1 and MotoGP coverage and locks features for subscribers. How the paywall works and how to read a full article free.
HSJ Paywall: How to Read Health Service Journal Articles for Free
HSJ, the Health Service Journal, locks its NHS management and policy reporting behind a subscription. How the paywall works and how to read a full HSJ article.
Tes Magazine Paywall: How to Read Tes Articles Without a Subscription
Tes, the former Times Educational Supplement, keeps its magazine articles behind a subscription. How the Tes paywall works and how to read a full article free.
Oxford Mail, Northern Echo and Other Newsquest Local Paywalls: How to Read Them for Free
The Oxford Mail, Northern Echo, Reading Chronicle, Swindon Advertiser and Southend Echo share one Newsquest paywall. How it works and how to read a full story.
Prospect Magazine Paywall: How to Read Prospect Articles for Free
Prospect meters its politics and ideas essays and locks the site after a few free reads. How the paywall works and how to read a full article free.
News & Star Paywall: How to Read Carlisle and Cumbria News for Free
The News & Star, Carlisle and Cumbria’s daily paper, meters its site like other Newsquest titles. How the paywall works and how to read a full article free.
New Left Review Paywall: How to Read NLR Essays for Free
New Left Review locks most of its long essays behind a subscriber paywall. How the NLR gate works and how to read a full essay without a subscription.
KentOnline Paywall: How to Read Kent News Articles for Free
KentOnline, the Kent Messenger website, meters its local news. How the Iliffe Media paywall works and how to read a full KentOnline article without subscribing.
Irish Farmers Journal Paywall: How to Read Articles for Free
The Irish Farmers Journal locks most farming news and prices behind a subscriber paywall. How the gate works and how to read a full article for free.
Tatler and Bon Appétit Paywalls: How to Read More Condé Nast Titles for Free
Tatler and Bon Appétit meter their sites with the same Condé Nast paywall as Vogue and The New Yorker. How it works and how to read a full story on either site.
UnHerd Paywall: How to Read UnHerd Articles for Free
UnHerd gives non-subscribers a few free essays a month before locking the site. How its metered paywall works and how to read any UnHerd essay in full.
How to Read Times Higher Education Without a Subscription
Times Higher Education meters its news behind registration, then a subscription. Here is how it works, how to read THE in full, and what does not work.
How to Read The Spectator Without a Subscription
The Spectator meters its site and locks articles after a few free reads. How the paywall works on spectator.co.uk and spectator.com, and how to read any piece in full.
How to Read The Observer (UK) Without a Subscription
The Observer now lives at observer.co.uk with its own paywall and subscriber-only pieces. How the new site gates its journalism and how to read any article in full.
How to Read The National (Scotland) and Other Newsquest Papers for Free
The National, Scotland’s pro-independence daily, meters its site like every Newsquest paper. How the paywall works and how to read it and its sister titles in full.
How to Read The Irish News Without a Subscription
The Irish News, Belfast’s biggest-selling daily, locks most stories after a few free reads. How the paywall works and how to read any Irish News article in full.
How to Read The Times (UK) Articles Without Subscribing
The Times and The Sunday Times sit behind one of the strictest paywalls in British news. Here is why the article text is still reachable and how to read it in full.
Independent Premium: How to Read Locked Independent Articles for Free
Most of The Independent is free, but its best comment and analysis sits behind Independent Premium. Here is how the lock works and how to read a Premium article in full.
How to Read The i Paper Without Subscribing
The i Paper meters its website and asks for a subscription after a few articles. Here is how the i paywall works and how to read its news and analysis in full for free.
How to Read The Irish Times Without a Subscription
The Irish Times has run a metered paywall since 2015 and locks most of its journalism after a few reads. Here is how it works and how to read any Irish Times article in full.
How to Read The Herald (Scotland) Without a Subscription
The Herald in Glasgow meters its website and locks its columnists and long reads. Here is how the Herald paywall works and how to read any story in full for free.
How to Read the Daily Mail Without Ads, Pop-ups or Autoplay Video
The Daily Mail has no paywall, but its pages are among the heaviest on the web. Here is how to read any Mail Online story as clean text with no ads, video or sidebar.
Financial Times Paywall: Why No Tool Opens the FT and How to Read It Free
The Financial Times runs one of the strictest paywalls in journalism and no reader tool opens it. Here is what the FT sends non-subscribers and the real free routes: libraries, gift links and schools.
Telegraph Paywall: Why Reader Tools Are Blocked and How to Read It Free
The Telegraph blocks automated access to its site, so no reader tool can fetch its articles. Here is how the Telegraph paywall works, why tools fail, and the legitimate free routes.