Every article tool, honestly compared
Paywall bypass sites, reader apps, archive tools, and browser extensions — what they actually do, what still works in 2026, and how they compare to SMRY.
Last updated March 2026. We try to be fair — if a competitor is better at something, we say so.
The landscape in 30 seconds
What shut down
12ft.io was killed by legal action (July 2025). Pocket was shut down by Mozilla (July 2025, data deleted Nov 2025). Omnivore was acqui-hired by ElevenLabs (Nov 2024). If you relied on these, they're gone.
What still works (barely)
Bypass Paywalls Clean requires manual install and breaks frequently. archive.today works but was blacklisted by Wikipedia for abuse. Bypass sites like RemovePaywall redirect to archives — hit or miss.
What actually reads articles well
Readwise Reader ($10/mo) is the power tool — RSS, spaced repetition, deep integrations. Matter ($8/mo) has great TTS. Instapaper ($6/mo) is reliable but has no AI. SMRY ($3/mo) focuses on AI + instant access, no signup needed.
The key difference
Bypass tools give you access to text. Reader apps give you understanding. SMRY bridges both — instant access with AI summaries, chat, and a clean reader. No install, no signup, works in any browser.
AI Reading Apps
Full-featured reading apps with clean reader modes, AI, and organization. Best for daily readers who want to understand articles, not just access them.
How it works
The underlying technical approach
Clean reader mode
Strips ads/clutter, shows just the article
AI summaries
Automatic article summarization
Chat with articles
Ask questions about what you read
Text-to-speech
Listen to articles with AI voices
YouTube transcripts
Read YouTube videos as text
Highlights & notes
Save and annotate key passages
Browser extension
Save or read directly from your browser
Mobile app
Native app for iOS/Android
Offline reading
Read saved articles without internet
RSS feeds
Subscribe to publication feeds
No signup required
Use without creating an account
Free tier
What you get without paying
Paid plan
Monthly pricing for premium features
Pocket: Shut down July 2025 by Mozilla. All user data deleted Nov 2025.
Omnivore: Team acqui-hired by ElevenLabs. Shut down Nov 2024.
Paywall Bypass Sites
Simple paste-a-link tools that redirect you to cached or archived copies. No reader mode, no AI, no features — just raw access when it works.
How it works
The underlying technical approach
Clean reader mode
Strips ads/clutter, shows just the article
AI summaries
Automatic article summarization
Chat with articles
Ask questions about what you read
Text-to-speech
Listen to articles with AI voices
YouTube transcripts
Read YouTube videos as text
Highlights & notes
Save and annotate key passages
Browser extension
Save or read directly from your browser
Mobile app
Native app for iOS/Android
Offline reading
Read saved articles without internet
RSS feeds
Subscribe to publication feeds
No signup required
Use without creating an account
Free tier
What you get without paying
Paid plan
Monthly pricing for premium features
12ft.io: Taken down July 2025 by News/Media Alliance legal pressure.
Archive Tools
Web archiving services that save permanent page snapshots. Paywall bypass is a side effect, not the primary purpose.
How it works
The underlying technical approach
Clean reader mode
Strips ads/clutter, shows just the article
AI summaries
Automatic article summarization
Chat with articles
Ask questions about what you read
Text-to-speech
Listen to articles with AI voices
YouTube transcripts
Read YouTube videos as text
Highlights & notes
Save and annotate key passages
Browser extension
Save or read directly from your browser
Mobile app
Native app for iOS/Android
Offline reading
Read saved articles without internet
RSS feeds
Subscribe to publication feeds
No signup required
Use without creating an account
Free tier
What you get without paying
Paid plan
Monthly pricing for premium features
archive.today: Blacklisted by Wikipedia Feb 2026 for DDoS abuse & content tampering.
Browser Extensions
Browser extensions that modify requests to bypass paywalls. Require manual installation and frequent updates as publishers patch detection.
ActiveBypass Paywalls Clean
ActiveHow it works
The underlying technical approach
Clean reader mode
Strips ads/clutter, shows just the article
AI summaries
Automatic article summarization
Chat with articles
Ask questions about what you read
Text-to-speech
Listen to articles with AI voices
YouTube transcripts
Read YouTube videos as text
Highlights & notes
Save and annotate key passages
Browser extension
Save or read directly from your browser
Mobile app
Native app for iOS/Android
Offline reading
Read saved articles without internet
RSS feeds
Subscribe to publication feeds
No signup required
Use without creating an account
Free tier
What you get without paying
Paid plan
Monthly pricing for premium features
Bypass Paywalls Clean: Community extension, frequently taken down from stores. Requires manual install.
Which tool should you use?
“I just want to read one article right now”
Use SMRY. Paste the URL, get the article. No signup, no install, works in any browser. You also get an AI summary and can ask questions about it.
“I save 20+ articles a week and need organization”
Readwise Reader is the most complete tool for power readers — RSS, newsletters, spaced repetition, deep Obsidian/Notion integration. It costs more ($10/mo) but nothing else matches its organization features.
“I mostly listen to articles”
Matter has the best TTS (60+ HD voices, 15 languages). SMRY has 10 voices and is much cheaper. Instapaper also has solid TTS with 17 voices.
“I want to understand articles deeply, not just read them”
Use SMRY. AI summaries give you the key points in seconds. Then chat with the article — ask for explanations, counterarguments, related concepts. It's like having a research assistant for every article you read.
“I need a permanent archive of a page”
archive.today still works for this specific use case (saving a permanent snapshot). But for reading, use something else — there's no reader mode, no AI, and you have to solve a CAPTCHA every time.
Frequently asked questions
Read smarter, not harder
Paste any article URL and get a clean read with AI summaries, chat, and text-to-speech. No signup required.
Try SMRY free