13 Feet Ladder is a lightweight, self-hosted web service similar to 12ft.io that fetches article pages in a more readable form. It works by requesting pages while impersonating a search engine crawler, often returning content that is otherwise obscured by paywalls or aggressive overlays.

Key Features

Self-hosted web interface for submitting a target URL and viewing a cleaned result
Crawler-style fetching (e.g., Googlebot user agent) to retrieve indexable article content
Simple URL-based usage by appending the target URL to the service path
Docker and Docker Compose deployment options
Can be used via a browser bookmarklet to quickly “13ft” the current page

Use Cases

Reading single articles on sites that show paywalls or restrictive overlays
Running a personal “read-through” proxy for occasional access on trusted networks
Quickly extracting a readable version of an article for personal reference

Limitations and Considerations

Effectiveness varies by site; some publishers block crawler user agents or require scripts/authentication
May conflict with publisher terms of service; consider supporting creators and using responsibly
Fetching and rendering depends on the upstream site’s HTML delivery and anti-bot measures

13 Feet Ladder is best suited for individuals who want a simple, self-hosted alternative to hosted paywall-bypass proxies. Its straightforward interface and flexible URL-based workflow make it easy to integrate into a personal browsing setup.