12ft.io is gone. Here is what to use instead.
What happened to 12 Foot Ladder, why it stopped working, and the alternatives that still do.
What happened to 12ft.io
12ft.io, also called 12 Foot Ladder, let you put 12ft.io/ in front of an article address to read it without a paywall. It worked by fetching the page the way a search engine would. In 2025 it was taken offline following a takedown effort by the News/Media Alliance, a trade group representing publishers.
Even before that, it had stopped working on many big sites, because publishers learned to check whether a visitor claiming to be a search engine really was one.
Use Break Paywall the same way
If you are used to typing in front of a link, keep the habit. In your address bar, put breakpaywall.com/ in front of the article address:
breakpaywall.com/https://www.example.com/2026/11/story
Instead of trying a single trick, Break Paywall lists every option ranked for that site, so when one fails the next is a click away. There is also a one-click bookmarklet.
12ft.io alternatives compared
| Alternative | How it works | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Break Paywall | Ranks archives and readers for the link you paste and opens your choice | Prefix, bookmarklet and Android share support; runs in your browser |
| Archive.today | Shows a saved snapshot of the page | Most reliable for hard paywalls; may show a captcha |
| Wayback Machine | Shows the Internet Archive's captures | Best for older or deleted articles |
| RemovePaywall | Checks several archives and caches at once | Also has browser extensions |
| smry | Opens public pages in a clean reader | AI features need an account |
| Google Translate proxy | Loads the page through Google's translator | Helps with metered paywalls only |
For a deeper look at each one, see every method compared.
Questions about 12ft.io
Is 12ft.io still working?
No. 12ft.io (12 Foot Ladder) was taken offline in 2025 after action by the News/Media Alliance, and the address no longer removes paywalls.
What is the closest replacement for 12ft.io?
For the same habit of putting something in front of a link, type breakpaywall.com/ before the article address. Break Paywall then lists Archive.today, the Wayback Machine and other options ranked for that site.
Why did 12ft.io stop working on many sites even before it shut down?
It relied on loading pages the way search engines see them. Publishers increasingly check that a visitor really is a search engine, so that trick stopped working on many sites.