Not seeing ads is always free, just don't use the site, Reddit premium=content-without-ads. It's easy for them to allow premium users API access, they'll still

Not seeing ads is always free, just don't use the site, Reddit premium=content-without-ads. It's easy for them to allow premium users API access, they'll still be developed for third-party apps with an accessibility focus amongst other things. Reddit doesn't owe us anything. But given how easy this would be, it's unsurprising that taking the current obtuse approach makes some people not want to use the site.