What Are Paywall Gift Links and How to Find Them

Gift links are an official feature of many subscription publications that let subscribers share individual articles with non-subscribers for free. Understanding how they work and where to find them adds a powerful legitimate tool to your options for reading paywalled content.

How Gift Links Work

When a subscriber wants to share an article, they use their publication's share feature to generate a special URL. This URL includes a token that tells the publisher's server to grant read access to anyone who uses that link, bypassing the paywall for that specific article.

Publications offer this feature deliberately because sharing encourages non-subscribers to discover their content and potentially subscribe. It is a fully sanctioned way to access paywalled articles.

Publications with Gift Links

• New York Times — Subscribers can share up to 10 gift articles per month. These links can typically be used multiple times within a 30-day window.
• Wall Street Journal — Subscribers can share articles via gift links. These are often shared by WSJ journalists and writers on social media.
• Financial Times — FT subscribers can generate gift links. FT journalists frequently share their articles this way on LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Bloomberg — Bloomberg subscribers can share gift articles. Financial professionals commonly share Bloomberg content on LinkedIn.
• The Washington Post — WaPo subscribers can share gift links for individual articles.
• The Atlantic — Subscribers can share gift links to specific Atlantic articles.

How to Find Gift Links

Gift links are shared by subscribers on social media and in newsletters. To find one for a specific article:

1. Copy the article headline or a distinctive phrase from it.
2. Search Twitter or X for the headline. Authors and subscribers frequently share gift links when tweeting about articles.
3. Search LinkedIn for the headline. Business and professional articles are frequently shared with gift links on LinkedIn.
4. Check if the author has a newsletter — authors often share their own articles via gift links to their newsletter subscribers.
5. Look at the author's profile on the publication's website; they sometimes pin or list recently shared gift links.

When No Gift Link Is Available

Not every article has a shared gift link available. For articles without findable gift links, web archive tools are the most reliable fallback.

Asking for a Gift Link

If you know the article author is on social media, you can politely ask them to share a gift link. Many journalists and writers are happy to share gift links when asked directly. This works best for niche or specialized articles where the author is likely to see a mention.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a gift link for a paywalled article?

A gift link is a special URL that subscribers generate to share full access to a paywalled article with non-subscribers. When a non-subscriber clicks a gift link, they can read the complete article without a subscription, for a limited number of uses.

Which publications support gift links?

Major publications with gift link features include the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. The feature may also be called "share article," "send to a friend," or similar.

How many times can a gift link be used?

The number of times a gift link can be used varies by publication. NYT gift links can generally be used multiple times. WSJ gift links may be single-use or have a limited number of views. Terms vary and change over time.

Where can I find gift links for articles?

Subscribers often share gift links on Twitter, LinkedIn, Mastodon, and in newsletters. Searching for the article headline along with terms like "gift link" or "free link" on social media often surfaces shared gift links.