Bypassing the Medium Paywall
A paywall is a method of restricting access to content via a paid subscription. Beginning in 2017, Medium implemented a paywall on their website that writers could voluntarily opt into. In-exchange writers would receive a share of the membership fee paid by the reader.
Although I do not personally want to participate in Mediums “Partner program”. Many publications such as The Startup prioritize content that is placed behind the paywall:
So I personally have no issue/take no offence if you are to use the methods discussed below on articles I write as I only make a paltry $2 per month on this platform anyway.
The easy way: An Incognito Browser Tab
You can simply copy paste the article link into your browsers incognito window. Since, Medium utilizes cookies to track how many articles people without Medium accounts have read. When you use up all 3 of your free “member-only” stories, you can simply close all of your incognito browser windows and re-open Medium in an incognito browser window. By closing all of your incognito browser windows you will effectively clear all your incognito browser cookies, making Medium think you’re a different person.
Alternatively, you could go through your browser settings and delete the cookies Medium places on your browser, but that’s a little more involved/less self-explanatory for less technical people and can get frustrating when you have to do it every 3 article's you read.
Problems with this approach
This solution does not work on the medium mobile app, does not allow you to clap for stories you enjoyed reading (as you aren't logged into an account), It also does not allow you to use your own medium account, which prevents medium from learning about you and recommending content you may be interested in.
The Difficult Way: Becoming A Medium Writer
The first time I wrote an article on Medium I signed up for a free account. I submitted my article to a some of Mediums largest publications such as The Startup. You can find a list of Mediums 10 largest publications Here (you can find out how to submit to a publication by looking on their page, they will generally have a button that says “write for us” or “submit”)
Once I was added as a writer to a publication, I was granted lifetime access to all of that publications content. Even if I have never published anything with them, as long as I am a writer for them, I am able to read/clap for all their articles. Since my story was accepted into 6 of Mediums largest publications, I now have lifetime free access to most of Medium’s best content.
If you don't fancy writing, i’d imagine it would be possible to copy paste someone else's article from the inter-webs, submit it to a bunch of publications as your own, get added as a writer for said publications, then never actually publish the article.
Problems with this approach
You will be limited to reading articles written by publications you are a writer for.
Conclusion
This post was purely written for educational/entertainment purposes. I in no way condone stealing from writers. Because if writers on this platform do not get compensated for their work, it will drive down the quality of stories on Medium and who wants that?
