Reddit Locks the API Gates, Leaves RSS Reading the Obituary 📜

Reddit confirmed it will discontinue RSS feeds on November 13 and shut down public API access in March 2027, framing the move as a defense against scraping and automated abuse. "In August, we shared plans to modernize Reddit's infrastructure, build better mod tools, and make it harder for bad actors to scrape Reddit and abuse communities. Today, we have specifics on what's changing, when, and how to plan ahead," the company said.

New applications for public API access close October 31. Unregistered apps and developers who have not responded to Reddit's outreach will lose access on January 12, 2027, with remaining access cut off in March. Reddit is steering developers to its Developer Platform, called Devvit, and has launched a $1 million App Migration Program. Eligible apps that migrate receive $1,000 plus free hosting, with applications due November 30. Reddit said more than 14,000 apps and bots have registered, and that DeltaBot, MagicEyeBot, and RemindMeBot have completed or nearly completed migration. Moderators who rely on RSS alerts are directed to a Devvit app called Discord Relay, while RSS use outside a community a user moderates has no replacement.

The changes extend to Old Reddit, which in coming months will be limited to logged-in users who have visited it in the past six months, with moderators retaining access regardless. Reddit previously began charging for API access in 2023, a shift that triggered widespread subreddit protests, and in early 2024 signed a roughly $60 million-per-year licensing deal with Google permitting AI training on Reddit posts. An agreement with OpenAI followed in May 2024. Reddit sued Anthropic in June 2025 alleging its bots hit Reddit servers more than 100,000 times after saying it had stopped, and in October 2025 sued Perplexity and three data-scraping firms over alleged circumvention of its protections, claims Perplexity and SerpApi have disputed. Reddit did not announce any change affecting $BTC or $ETH markets, and no impact on cryptocurrency prices was disclosed in the statement.