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Popular Reddit App Apollo Would Need to Pay $20 Million Per Year Under New API Pricing

The reason why Companies like Facebook or Reddit exist is because of the community, not because of a perfect, be-all-and-all interface.

There will always be a tailor made Reddit app that better suits a certain user-type instead of another, and if this can be made relatively easy from another app it makes no sense for Reddit to give basically free usage of its core asset, the community, to somebody that doesn't have to maintain the whole infrastructure and can happily offer an alternative for a fraction of the price, without i.e. having to put ads etc.
 
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MacRumors said:


Popular Reddit app Apollo might not be able to operate as is in the future due to planned API pricing that Reddit is implementing.

Apollo-for-Reddit-Feature.png

Apollo developer Christian Selig was today told that Reddit plans to charge $12,000 for 50 million API requests. Last month, Apollo made seven billion requests, which would mean Selig would need to pay $1.7 million per month or $20 million per year to Reddit to keep the app running.


The average Apollo user uses 344 requests per day, which would be priced at $2.50 per month, more than double the current subscription cost, or a sum that Selig is not able to afford. Right now, Apollo Pro is a one-time $4.99 fee that unlocks additional features, and Apollo Ultra is an even more premium tier that costs $12.99 per year.

Selig says that he is "deeply disappointed" in Reddit's planned pricing, as the company promised that it would not "operate like Twitter" and charge developers an unreasonable fee. Twitter, for comparison, charges $42,000 for 50 million tweets. While Reddit is charging less at $12,000 for 50 million requests, it is still too high of a cost for an independent developer.

According to Selig, he pays image storage site and social network Imgur $166 per month for 50 million API calls, and that is closer to what he expected Reddit to charge. Selig says that while Reddit has been "communicative and civil" over half a dozen phone calls, the pricing is not "anything based in reality or remotely reasonable." Reddit has claimed that the pricing is not flexible, and this is the price that developers will be charged.

Apollo is the most popular third-party Reddit app, primarily because of the work that Selig has put into it. He regularly adds new features and updates, and interfaces with users to get feedback on new functionality.

Reddit maintains its own app, but it does not have the same feature options as Apollo. Charging developers an exorbitant price could force third-party apps to cease to exist, pushing users to the official app that Reddit has more control over.

News that Reddit would begin charging for API access came in April following Twitter's decision to eliminate third-party apps. Reddit use is free for bots and researchers who take advantage of the site for academic purposes, but apps like Apollo will need to pay in the future. When speaking to The New York Times in April, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said "It's a good time for us to tighten things up," adding that he felt it was "fair."

Apollo users are understandably upset about the change, with numerous complaints on Reddit and other social networks like Twitter. It is not clear what will happen with Apollo when Reddit begins charging for API access. At the very least, Selig will need to significantly increase subscription prices, and the app will likely no longer be able to support free users.

Article Link: Popular Reddit App Apollo Would Need to Pay $20 Million Per Year Under New API Pricing
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So coolfactor what was that you were saying about API's used on the internet, and that third party app developers using API's not owned by themselves not being their "fault or weakness. The Twitter fiasco was unique, driven by mismanagement and cluelessness." ?

coolfactor said:
Wow, emotional post. There's a big advantage to using a native app over a web-based app. That alone is worth a small fee.

APIs are used heavily across the web. They are not a fault or weakness. The Twitter fiasco was unique, driven by mismanagement and cluelessness.
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Seems this is just another that will negatively affect a third party developer. As I debated in another thread with you before, Twitter is NOT unique as you can see.
 
Apple did this with their API's. I'm trying to rack my brains to what app that was affected, MR reported on it. It was a popular 3rd party app that was way better than Apple's version, was it a weather app??or messaging app? anyway, Apple changed the conditions of the API which meant the developer could no longer develop their app.
 
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As a "data" person, I'd be interested in knowing the numbers behind the users who use apps like Apollo, as they would seem to be less "casual" users.

Reddit makes its money on ads (which Apollo users don't see) BUT you don't necessarily need to draw revenue from EVERY user to be successful.

Reddit should know what users come through using Apollo. Reddit also knows what type of karma (upvotes) those users have. If the Apollo users are more prolific posters, or higher quality (high karma) posters, then it stands to reason that even if you don't serve ads to those users, their content adds to the draw of the site that brings in the more casual (ad-viewing) users.

If you were to scare away your content PRODUCERS, the content CONSUMERS won't stick around to see the ads. I've done a lot of technical help posts in hobby subreddits. But, if it gets harder for me to use the service (using the official app when I'm not on desktop) then I'll probably post less. That may mean that answers that would have brought new users to the site via Google search now never happen.

I hope someone there is thinking about the full ecosystem, rather than just viewing all people on the site as "consumers." On sites with user generated content, you rely on the users who make content to make your service desirable.
 
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sza said:
Reddit is a place with full of punks just like people talking shxxs all day long standing at the street corners in real life.

I personally never wish it existed in the first place.
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All social media (and the world in general to that matter) is full of punks. That does not mean it is not useful. "Punks" tend to gravitate to the topics normal people do not care for.
 
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Anyway, Reddit charging Christian 20x-30x more per month and then just being all “…yeah, this is cool. Normal, even!” is pretty messed up.

At least with Twitter, people can put a face to the app (Elon). Who even own Reddit. Not some bro dude “with an agenda” or whatever. It’s just a company’s wanting to make money and doing it as blatantly as possible. So sad and feel really bad for Christian.
 
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Christian already has the perfect message board app in Apollo. Now he just needs to move onto step 2 and create his own message board. RIP, Reddit.
 
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Glavin said:
Christian already has the perfect message board app in Apollo. Now he just needs to move onto step 2 and create his own message board. RIP, Reddit.
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He should start how own Reddit rival and put them out of business.

Sorry not Sorry, I’ve had a couple beers and am salty about this.
 
Nautilus007 said:
Why doesn't reddit just buy Apollo.....their app is garbage.
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They’ll turn Apollo into garbage pretty quickly, filled with ads, their tik tok video thing, and whatever else the current app has. And as it’s an iOS only app, they’d still need something for Android.

I’m no expert on anything, but seeing as Apollo has a pretty big user base already. How difficult would it be for Christian Selig to start a new competing alternative to Reddit? Something that Apollo app can easily tie into? That way, everything he built for Apollo over the years isn’t a complete waste if he decides to sunset it.
 
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xxFoxtail said:
They’ll turn Apollo into garbage pretty quickly, filled with ads, their tik tok video thing, and whatever else the current app has. And as it’s an iOS only app, they’d still need something for Android.

I’m no expert on anything, but seeing as Apollo has a pretty big user base already. How difficult would it be for Christian Selig to start a new competing alternative to Reddit? Something that Apollo app can easily tie into? That way, everything he built for Apollo over the years isn’t a complete waste if he decides to sunset it.
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It most likely means Apollo is out of business. A crappy way of putting all 3rd party apps out of business, not just Christian’s Apollo. There’s a ton of Android Reddit apps, and I’m sure it’ll impact RSS and anything else, forcing anyone and everyone to go to their website or app. Pricing everyone out of business.
 
Reddit wishes it was Apollo. Screw twitter blue, I’d pay monthly for Apollo and don’t need any irrelevant blue check next to my user name. Long time user of Apollo and this stinks. Christian is a great dev also. Keeping everyone in the loop about everything. I love Apollo.
 
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Glavin said:
Christian already has the perfect message board app in Apollo. Now he just needs to move onto step 2 and create his own message board. RIP, Reddit.
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For real. If they’re pushing him out, just go against them. Dude seems really smart so just launch your own service.
 
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sza said:
This is why Apple had to invest a lot to build their own Map service regardless of the day-one quality.

Now you understand it? Elon musk will follow.
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What are you saying here? Twitter is one of the other platforms GROSSLY overcharging for API access. He set the stage for this.
 
Well, that's the end of Reddit.

Their own UI is absolute garbage, both on the web and their official app, and nobody will ever trust them again after this is used to attack NSFW communities.
 
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britboyj said:
What are you saying here? Twitter is one of the other platforms GROSSLY overcharging for API access. He set the stage for this.
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Why would any business person out there build a platform without profiting from it but spending tons of $$$ every day running the platform? I hope Elon will charge more actually...
 
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