Summary
- Reddit will cease support for RSS feeds on November 13, 2026, with no alternatives for users outside of moderated communities.
- Public API requests will end on October 31, 2026, and all remaining access will be terminated in March 2027, with a $1 million fund to assist developers in migrating to Reddit's Developer Platform.
- The platform cites issues with scraping and automated abuses, while also forming data partnerships with Google and OpenAI, and taking legal action against Anthropic and Perplexity.
Reddit has announced it will terminate two key methods used by external parties to extract information from its platform. The company revealed in an official statement that RSS feeds will be disabled on November 13, alongside the public API access which will end in March 2027.
“In August, we outlined our intentions to modernize Reddit’s infrastructure, enhance moderation tools, and curb scraping and abuse by malicious users. Today, we provide details on the upcoming changes, timelines, and planning guidance,” Reddit stated.
RSS feeds allow applications to automatically check for new posts, while an API (application programming interface) provides a way for software to directly request data from a service. Both have been essential for many third-party applications, bots, and alert systems for years.
Reddit's rationale for these changes centers around the problem of scraping — automated systems that extract large volumes of content — as well as what the platform describes as automated abuse.
New public API access requests will be halted after October 31. Applications and users who have not registered by that date will begin losing access on January 12, 2027, with complete cutoffs occurring in March.
Reddit encourages developers to transition to its Developer Platform, known as Devvit, and has initiated a $1 million App Migration Program. This program includes $1,000 incentives for qualifying apps that make the switch and offers free hosting, with applications due by November 30.
So far, over 14,000 apps and bots have registered for this migration. Reddit reports that popular tools like DeltaBot, MagicEyeBot, and RemindMeBot are either fully migrated or nearly completed with the process.
For moderators currently using RSS for alerts, Reddit has highlighted a Devvit application called Discord Relay as a potential alternative.
However, for those using RSS feeds outside of moderated communities, the company has stated, "there is no replacement."
Old Reddit, the classic version of the site favored by many long-time users, will also face restrictions. In the coming months, it will only be accessible to logged-in users who have visited within the last six months, while moderators will retain access regardless.
The Rationale Behind the Changes
For users seeking to understand the reasoning behind these decisions, it essentially boils down to two factors: data and revenue.
Reddit possesses a wealth of information from real users discussing various topics, from product recommendations to medical advice.
In 2023, Reddit began charging developers for API access, leading to a significant backlash where thousands of subreddits temporarily went dark in protest.
Subsequently, in early 2024, Reddit entered into a licensing agreement worth approximately $60 million annually with Google, allowing the tech giant to utilize Reddit posts for training AI models.
A similar partnership was established with OpenAI in May of the same year.
Those who did not formalize their agreements found themselves facing legal challenges. Reddit filed a lawsuit against Anthropic in June 2025, claiming its bots had accessed Reddit servers over 100,000 times after being told to stop.
In October 2025, Reddit also took action against Perplexity and several data-scraping companies, accusing them of circumventing its protective measures. Perplexity and SerpApi have denied these allegations.
Scrapers have adapted their tactics, with Cloudflare accusing Perplexity in August 2025 of disguising its crawlers as regular Chrome browsers to evade restrictions. Perplexity disputes this claim as well.
Reddit has indicated that the highest levels of abusive scraping stemmed from users accessing Old Reddit without logging in. It is challenging to prevent bots that mimic human behavior, which is why the login requirement was prioritized.
For average users, these changes could mean the loss of useful tools that enhance the Reddit experience, such as reminder bots and moderation aids. If an app's developer fails to migrate, it will cease to function.
The initial deadline for existing unregistered applications is January 12, 2027, and the application period for the migration fund will close on November 30, 2026.