If you don’t know what Reddit is, then you must be new to the “Internets”, but I’ll bring you up to date. Reddit is an online platform that connects users through various communities called “subreddits.” It’s a hub for sharing, discussing, and discovering topics of interest. Users can submit posts, links, images, and videos, which are then voted on by the community. This voting system determines the visibility of content, ensuring that the most valuable contributions rise to the top. Whether you’re looking for information, entertainment, or connection, Reddit provides a space where you can engage, share, and connect with others. It’s the DIGG replacement before it went bad.
Reddit has an API (Application Programming Interface) that allows developers to interact with Reddit’s vast collection of data and functionality. It provides a structured way for applications and websites to access and utilize Reddit’s content, user information, and various features. Using Reddit’s API, a lot of Android developers created apps to better interact with it. However, there’s a problem now. Apparently Reddit decided that giving free access to their API was too much, so they’re starting to charge for using it. Seems correct, doesn’t it, to ask money for a service. The problem is that their pricing is prohibitive for most small Android devs that have somewhat popular apps that use the API, so somehow they want to filter out their API users and keep only those that pay loads.
Here’s what changed:
- Reddit now offers premium API access for third-party applications that require advanced capabilities and higher usage limits.
- Previously, for-profit third-party apps were using the API for free. Instead of completely blocking these apps, Reddit has introduced a pricing model to cover the costs associated with maintaining the API.
- The pricing is based on the number of API calls, reflecting the expenses for maintaining the API and other related factors like engineering and legal support. The cost for Reddit to maintain the API annually amounts to double-digit millions for large-scale apps. The new pricing is set at $0.24 per 1000 API calls.
To illustrate, an example is provided for apps with 1,000 daily active users.
| App 1 | App 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily active users (DAU) | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Server calls / DAU | 100 | 345 |
| Total server calls per day | 100,000 | 345,000 |
| Cost per 1k server calls | $0.24 | $0.24 |
| Total annual cost | $8,760 | $30,222 |
| Monthly cost per user | $0.73 | $2.52 |
The problem though is that there are popular Android apps that use the Reddit API but make very few bucks and cannot justify paying the hefty amounts to Reddit. And these apps provided value to Reddit, because their official app is not very good. So what’s happening now is that most popular Android apps that use the Reddit API are shutting down one by one. In fact the top 3 most popular ones are shutting down:
RIF (Reddit is Fun) shutting down
RIF will be shutting down on June 30, 2023, in response to Reddit Inc’s API changes and their hostile treatment of developers building on their platform.
Here’s a sum up of what the RIF main dev said:
- The new pricing for the Reddit API will impose significant costs, estimated at around $20 million per year for apps like Apollo. While RIF may have different numbers, the expenses would still be in the same range, far surpassing RIF’s actual earnings.
- Furthermore, Reddit Inc is blocking ads in third-party apps, which constitute a major source of revenue for RIF. This move essentially forces a paid subscription model on RIF’s users, while Reddit’s official app continues to primarily generate revenue through advertisements.
- Another concern is the removal of sexually explicit material from third-party apps, while such content remains accessible within Reddit’s official app. Speculation has arisen regarding the possibility of NSFW content leaving Reddit altogether. However, the recent expansion of NSFW upload support on Reddit Inc’s desktop site contradicts this notion.
As a result of these issues, RIF has made the decision to cease its operations and discontinue its services.
Apollo Reddit app is shutting down
Apollo Reddit app is the most popular iOS app that uses the Reddit API and it’s shutting down as well on June 30, 2023. For nostalgia purposes, here’s how the app looked (well, looks, that until July 1st, 2023):
The dev made a pretty compelling case on how prohibitive the new API costs are for them.
The cost for 50 million requests amounts to $12,000, a figure that was unforeseen. Apollo, one of the apps affected by this change, made 7 billion requests last month, which translates to around $1.7 million per month or $20 million per year. Even if Apollo only retained subscription users, the average user’s daily usage of 344 requests would result in a cost of $2.50 per month, more than double the current subscription fee.
The pricing has been met with disappointment, as Reddit had promised it would be reasonable and not similar to Twitter’s pricing, which was heavily criticized. Reddit’s pricing is still $12,000 for 50 million requests, while Imgur, a similar site in terms of user base and media, charges $166 for the same number of API calls.
Considering Reddit’s revenue and user base, the pricing seems unjustifiable. Assuming quarterly revenue of $100 million, which is a conservative estimate, and no increase in active users since 2019, the cost per user would be $1.40 per year or $0.12 per month. These numbers align with industry estimates. In comparison, Apollo’s proposed pricing of $2.50 per user is 20 times higher than the generous revenue estimate per user for Reddit.
The developer of Apollo acknowledges Reddit’s communicative approach but finds the pricing to be detached from reality and unreasonable. The situation requires careful consideration, as the developer does not have the financial means to cover such costs. In simpler terms, an API allows access to a website’s information. The proposed changes in pricing for Reddit’s API means that developers like Apollo would have to pay a significant amount for each data request, which is comparable to a bouncer charging an exorbitant fee for answering questions. You can read the official Reddit thread here.
Sync for Reddit will shutdown too
Same as with RIF and Apollo, the Sync for Reddit dev said that the new pricing is prohibitive and cannot continue.
The API pricing has been deemed excessively high, making it impractical for Sync to continue operating. Additionally, the experience for third-party apps will be compromised as NSFW (Not Safe for Work) content will not be displayed, although it will still be available in the official Reddit app. Reddit has also updated its data policy to prohibit ads in third-party apps, leaving subscriptions as the only viable payment option.
There are several concerns and points to address regarding these changes. Firstly, the lack of documentation and time for development is a significant issue as the July deadline approaches. Given the variations in API usage among users, tiered usage plans could be implemented, such as offering different levels of API calls for different monthly prices.
Regrettably, the developer of Sync feels compelled to shut down the app before the implementation of the new API changes. Despite their strong desire to keep Sync running, the current circumstances leave no viable alternative. The developer expresses their deep attachment to the app, having dedicated a decade of their life to its development, but the existing situation seems insurmountable. You can read the official thread here.
Seems that Reddit follows the same principle in API pricing as Twitter enforced, asking sky-high prices for access. Future will tell if it’s a good move or not, depending on how many users they’ll use.
