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Why did reddit choose to charge app developers (causing financial uncertainty) for API requests instead of charging the end-users? By purchasing my own usage a

Why did reddit choose to charge app developers (causing financial uncertainty) for API requests instead of charging the end-users? By purchasing my own usage and loading an API key into Apollo, I could continue to pay Apollo for the app alone like today, and pay Reddit separately for the API access. At least this way, I could decide if I’m happy with the price for API access. I can only assume Reddit deliberately wanted to ruin the business model for third party apps.

JohnBooty 3y ago
Why did reddit choose to charge app developers (causing financial uncertainty) for API requests instead of charging the end-users? Selfishly I almost wish this had been their course of action -- restrict API access to Reddit Gold members, or some such. Reddit Gold is $5.99/month, so 5-6x their average monthly income per user. Hell, they could just make it $2 a month. Source, not sure how reliable: https://sacra.com/c/reddit/ https://sacra.com/c/reddit/ One downside to this is that while $5.99/month is affordable to many, for other people (particularly those in other parts of the world) it is completely unaffordable. So, probably a no-go.
scubadude 3y ago
Seriously, brilliant approach. What a missed opportunity.
Topgamer7 3y ago
> I can only assume Reddit deliberately wanted to ruin the business model for third party apps. Yes, that was the only intention.
raincole 3y ago
You overestimate how tech-savvy an average user is (by a huge margin). No one knows what an API is in real world. And no one is willing to pay just because they sees more than 100 images on r/funny in a short period. By "no one" I meant that kind of userbase is so small that if you design your site around them you can say goodbye to IPO.
- evanreichard 3y ago
  I don’t think the parent post is proposing that Reddit should restrict access to their own mobile app. They’re proposing that if you want to use a third party app, then put that behind “Reddit Premium+” or whatever. The average reddit user wouldn’t care or know so they would just use the normal reddit app with all its tracking and ads or whatever, which is what reddit wants right now anyway.
xdennis 3y ago
> Why did reddit choose to charge app developers (causing financial uncertainty) for API requests instead of charging the end-users? My theory is because they want to kill off third party access.

JohnBooty 3y ago

Why did reddit choose to charge app developers (causing financial uncertainty) for API requests instead of charging the end-users? Selfishly I almost wish this had been their course of action -- restrict API access to Reddit Gold members, or some such. Reddit Gold is $5.99/month, so 5-6x their average monthly income per user. Hell, they could just make it $2 a month. Source, not sure how reliable: https://sacra.com/c/reddit/ https://sacra.com/c/reddit/ One downside to this is that while $5.99/month is affordable to many, for other people (particularly those in other parts of the world) it is completely unaffordable. So, probably a no-go.

scubadude 3y ago

Seriously, brilliant approach. What a missed opportunity.

Topgamer7 3y ago

> I can only assume Reddit deliberately wanted to ruin the business model for third party apps. Yes, that was the only intention.

raincole 3y ago

You overestimate how tech-savvy an average user is (by a huge margin). No one knows what an API is in real world. And no one is willing to pay just because they sees more than 100 images on r/funny in a short period. By "no one" I meant that kind of userbase is so small that if you design your site around them you can say goodbye to IPO.

evanreichard 3y ago
I don’t think the parent post is proposing that Reddit should restrict access to their own mobile app. They’re proposing that if you want to use a third party app, then put that behind “Reddit Premium+” or whatever. The average reddit user wouldn’t care or know so they would just use the normal reddit app with all its tracking and ads or whatever, which is what reddit wants right now anyway.

xdennis 3y ago

> Why did reddit choose to charge app developers (causing financial uncertainty) for API requests instead of charging the end-users? My theory is because they want to kill off third party access.