They could have just priced the API at: ARPU from Ads on Reddit + some markup for maintaining the API. Apollo could pass this on to their users as the fee for

They could have just priced the API at: ARPU from Ads on Reddit + some markup for maintaining the API. Apollo could pass this on to their users as the fee for ads free Reddit experience. This way their incentives are aligned with Apollo’s. Both earn money and are incentivized to grow their user base.