The developer of the Reddit app says the site’s new API rules are costing him $20 million a year
Reddit’s recently announced plan to charge for API access could lower the developer price of one of Reddit’s most popular third-party apps. Reddit client app developer Apollo has raised alarm over the pricing of the new API, saying the changes will require it to spend millions of dollars to maintain its app in its current form.
Reddit announced sweeping changes to its API rules last month, citing AI companies using its platform to train large language models. “Reddit’s dataset is really valuable,” Reddit CEO Steve Hoffman told the New York Times. “But we don’t have to give all that value to some of the biggest companies in the world for free.”
But now it looks like independent app makers are also on board with the new higher-end plans, which are set to go into effect on June 19. While Reddit hasn’t officially disclosed API pricing, Christian Selig, Apollo’s sole developer, says he will have to pay $20 million to keep his app “as is” under the new policies.
“50 million requests costs $12,000, which is way more than I could have imagined,” he wrote in a Reddit post, referring to several conversations he had with Reddit representatives about upcoming API changes. “Apollo did 7 billion orders last month, which makes them about $1.7 million a month or $20 million a year.”
That price leaves Selig and Apollo, which have been widely praised for their design details and functionality beyond the original Reddit app, in a difficult position. Although the app offers subscriptions, its current revenue is not enough to cover the high cost of the API. He says the average user makes about 344 API calls per day, which would require him to raise subscription prices to at least $2.50 per month (currently, he says, most subscribers pay $0.99 per month). Also, it doesn’t take into account Apollo premium users, who use the app at a much higher price, or free users of the app. “Even just keeping current users, I’d be pretty broke every month,” Selig tells ReturnByte.
In a statement, a Reddit spokesperson said Selig was given “a price per 1,000 API calls, not a monthly bill,” but declined to share details. “Our pricing is based on usage levels that we measure to be as fair as possible,” the spokesperson said. “We have and will continue to work with third-party applications to help them improve efficiency, which can have a significant impact on overall cost.”
If all of this sounds strangely familiar, there are striking parallels between Reddit’s new developer rules and Twitter’s drastic changes to its API policies under Elon Musk. In Twitter’s case, the company chose to block third-party client applications, making its API extraordinarily expensive for researchers and businesses that previously relied on higher access to Twitter data.
It should be noted that Reddit was not outwardly hostile to developers. Selig notes that he’s had several phone calls with Reddit, and that the representatives he’s spoken to have been “communicative and civil” about the changes. And a Reddit spokesperson suggested the company wants to keep third-party apps.
“We’re committed to strengthening the developer ecosystem around Reddit — allowing developers and third-party apps to make Reddit better,” said a company spokesperson. “Our data API has delivered thousands of applications, including tools that make moderation easier and utilities that help users stay up to date with their favorite topics and games. Developers are incredibly valuable to the Reddit ecosystem, so much so that we recently updated our developer platform.”
However, Selig said he wasn’t sure how he would feel about the changes. “Hopefully it goes without saying that I don’t have that kind of money,” he shared on Reddit. “This requires consideration.”
