Key Facts to Understanding Reddit’s Recent API Updates

Announcements Staff •

Last Updated: June 30, 2023

Key Reddit stats

  • 100,000+ active communities

  • Over 57M daily active uniques

  • Over 50,000 daily active moderators (mods)

  • As of now, more than 96% of our top 5,000 communities (by DAU) are open

Our API pricing structure and why it matters

  • We recognize that many core users enjoy third-party apps and use them to contribute to Reddit in important ways.

  • Supporting these apps is not free for Reddit; they incur both infrastructure and significant opportunity costs.

  • Reddit needs to be a self-sustaining business and to do that, we can no longer subsidize commercial entities that require large-scale data use from our API.

  • Many other platforms have chosen to stop supporting apps like these altogether. We are offering our enterprise pricing as a path forward that balances the preferences of our users, the ambitions of developers, and the needs of Reddit as a business.

  • Today, more than 98% of apps do not pay and will continue to access the Data API for free so long as apps are not monetized and are below our published data-usage threshold.

  • Our pricing is based on usage levels comparable to our own costs.

  • Some apps and experiences use the API modestly. There are others that make hundreds of millions of API requests per day – most do not and are not being charged.

Our investment in tools for mods

  • Improving Reddit apps and moderator tools is a critical focus for us. In fact, 93% of mod actions are taken through desktop and native Reddit apps.

  • We're working to improve the mobile mod experience (the full list can be found here), and our plans for future updates include:

    • Updating the user profile cards to be more mod centric and increase mod efficiency and improve workflowBuilding a mobile mod log

    • The ability to manage Community Rules (i.e., add/edit/delete rules on mobile)

    • Mod Insights on mobile

    • Increasing the content density within mod queues to improve efficiency and scannability

    • Native mobile Mod Mail

    • Mod tools and mod bots continue to have free access to the Data API. Pushshift access for mods is rolling out to verified moderators.

Working with third-party developers and researchers

  • API access remains free for non-commercial researchers and academics under our published usage threshold.

  • API access is free for moderator tools and bots. We are rolling out a number of tools to enhance the moderator experience on Reddit.

  • We’re committed to fostering a safe and responsible developer ecosystem around Reddit - developers and third-party apps can make Reddit better and can do so in a sustainable and mutually-beneficial partnership while also keeping data and our users safe.

  • Recently, Narwhal posted in their community and outlined their future plans to stay active and connected to Reddit’s API. Relay and Now for Reddit shared similar posts.

We are not shutting down discussions or unilaterally reopening communities

  • Dissent, debate, and discussions are foundational parts of Reddit. We respect our communities’ ability to protest as long as mods follow our Moderator Code of Conduct.

  • We have a unique system of checks and balances, and we respect the communities right to protest. Some communities chose to participate, and others didn't.

  • Mods and users want communities to be open and accessible, after expressing their POV, many communities have decided to reopen.

    • r/denvernuggets made a home for the NBA fans during the finals

    • r/darksouls listened to their community and decided to reopen

    • r/nottheonion is asking users to vote, including a fun option that encourages people to take Tuesdays off

    • r/taylorswift fans want a wholesome place to talk about the Eras Tour

Accessibility on Reddit

  • We conducted an accessibility audit with an external consultant and have been working on improving accessibility on the site and in our apps.

  • We are working to improve the accessibility of mod tools on Reddit, and as of June 30, 2023, we have committed to making the following surfaces more accessible:

    • How mods access Moderation tools

    • ModQueue (view, action posts, and comments, filter and sort content, add removal reasons, and bulk action items)

    • ModMail (inbox, read, reply to messages, create new mail, private mod note)

    • User Settings (manage mods, approved users, muted users, banned users)

    • Community Settings

    • Ban Evasion Settings

    • Additional User Settings

    • Remaining mod surfaces

  • We’ve also connected with a number of developers of non-commercial apps that address accessibility needs and offered them exemptions from our large-scale pricing terms.

  • As of June 30, 2023, we’ve signed agreements with Luna, Dystopia, and Redreader; conversations continue with others.

Investing in our Developer Platform

  • Our Developer Platform is a unified space for developers to build and launch programs and apps to run specifically on Reddit, e.g., moderation apps, user utilities, games, and more.

  • Unlike external bots built solely using our API, Developer Platform apps are hosted on Reddit servers, natively cross-platform, and have access to new features like event-based triggers. The Developer Platform is currently in beta; those interested can learn more here.

NSFW content on Reddit

Key dates for our API Terms and Services

Effective June 19, 2023, our updated Data API Terms, together with our Developer Terms, replaced the existing Data API terms.

Effective July 1, 2023, the rate limits to use the Data API free of charge are 100 queries per minute per OAuth client id if you are using OAuth authentication and ten queries per minute if you are not using OAuth authentication.

Effective July 1, 2023, the rate for third-party apps that require higher usage limits is $0.24 per 1K API calls.

Effective July 5, 2023, we will limit access to mature (explicit) content via our Data API as part of an ongoing effort to provide guardrails to how explicit content and communities on Reddit are discovered and viewed. Note that this change will not impact any moderator bots or extensions

Timeline of our API announcements

Additional Resources