Reddit’s API Pricing Changes Spark Widespread Protests – Top Subreddits to Go Private Soon

The new API charging policy at Reddit is sparking a backlash among third-party client developers, with protests expected on June 12. Several hundreds of subreddits have decided to go dark (private) for 48 hours to fight against the policy, which could see Reddit offer its APIs to third-party clients for millions of dollars in fees.

Reddit’s API Charges Threaten The Sustainability of Third-Party Apps

Reddit is a social media platform that has grown to support a large and active user base, with over 1.5 billion registered users and 52 million daily active users, according to data by Earthweb.

A report by Backlinko shows that Reddit is also the sixth most visited website in the US, and has a valuation of $10 billion as of 2021.

Reddit stands out from other social media platforms as a useful source of information and entertainment for its users, who can interact with each other through upvotes, comments, and messages.

Reddit’s 52 million daily active users are at the risk of not accessing hundreds of subreddits including some of the largest on the site like r/aww, r/LifeHacks, r/video, r/Futurology, and r/bestof for at least 48 hours.

As part of the planned protests, some moderators on r/ModCoord wrote an open letter to Reddit, which explained their apprehensions regarding the new pricing policy and its impact on third-party developers as well as the management of their communities.

The letter also expressed concerns about Reddit’s new rules that will limit access to NSFW (Not Safe for Work) content through the API. Moderators claim that this change could affect the performance of bots that help filter such content.

The developer of the popular Apollo client said that he would need $20 million per year to maintain his app.

“I don’t see how this pricing is anything based in reality or remotely reasonable,” the Apollo developer Christian Selig wrote on the social media platform. “I hope it goes without saying that I don’t have that kind of money or would even know how to charge it to a credit card.”

A Reddit administrator replied that a (“efficient”) third-party app could cost less than $1 per user per month.

However, many subreddit moderators are worried that they will lose the tools they use to run their communities.

“Our pricing is $0.24 per 1000 API calls, which equates to <$1.00 per user monthly for a reasonably operated app,” the moderator wrote. “Apollo as an app is less efficient than its peers and at times has been excessive — probably because it has been free to be so.”

Will API Costs “Kill” Reddit?

Although Selig was vocal about the potential impact of the API fees policy, other third-party apps are also facing a similar problem. For example, the developer of the app, Reddit is Fun has reason to believe, implementing API fees could “kill” the app.

A related Reddit post warned that while some apps will come back after going dark, some may not and are likely to “go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed.”

“Many moderators aren’t able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app.” A Reddit post by r/Save3rdPartyApps, a new subreddit said. “This isn’t something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.”

Many subreddit moderators rely on third-party apps to manage their communities because the resources that Reddit provides are often inadequate.

In the open letter, moderators on r/ModCoord argued that third-party apps provide users with “superior mod tools” that they are free to customize as per their requirements.

Some app developers have started to be proactive, especially with the new API fees policy expected to go live on July 1. The developer of Infinity for Reddit, for instance, is already offering a paid version of the app in a move to stay live.

Other developers such as the one behind ReddPlanet have decided to permanently delete the app from the social media platform before the new changes take effect.

TechCrunch reported that Apollo has over four million downloads since 2021. Meanwhile, Android apps such as Boost for Reddit and Infinity for Reddit have over 430,000 and 280,000 downloads, respectively, in the same period.

Reddit Unlikely to Give In to The Protests

It seems Reddit is not ready to budge and might carry on with the new policy on July 1.

One Twitter user said that Reddit is not free to use as many would think as it has backers like Vogue, Allure, and Glamour who may be pushing to recoup their investment, especially with the company planning to go public in 2024, The Verge reported.

Reddit is now (again) owned by Advance Publications, owners of Vogue, Allure, Glamour, GQ, etc

For years I have been fascinated by people who think that Reddit is some sort of independent, rebellious, organization when in reality it is just another corporate operation.

— Louis Mingüey 🇺🇸 🇪🇸 🇪🇺 (@louisminguey) June 5, 2023

However, Gritty Get Litty, another Twitter user, said that Reddit’s demands are “not just expensive, impossible. Basically, asking developers to pay millions of dollars for the API every year.”

Reddit is also not new to protests, it has experienced several in its history. For instance, in 2021, many Reddit communities went private to express their dissatisfaction with the site’s decision to hire a former UK politician who was involved in a scandal (Reddit later announced it had parted ways with the person).

With protests expected in five days and the implementation of the new API pricing policy on July 1, there is still time for Reddit to reconsider its decision. However, it remains unclear what the outcome of this disagreement will be.

What we are certain about is that if the pricing policy changes, some subreddits will not return after June 12 and July 1, while app developers may implement paid subscriptions to remain sustainable.

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