Popular Twitter App to Pay $20 Million Per Year...
The popular Reddit app, Apollo, might face difficulties operating in the future due to Reddit's planned API pricing. The developer of Apollo, Christian Selig, was informed that Reddit intends to charge $12,000 for 50 million API requests. Considering that Apollo made seven billion requests last month, Selig would need to pay $1.7 million per month or $20 million per year to Reddit in order to keep the app running.
The average Apollo user currently makes 344 requests per day, which would cost $2.50 per month under the new pricing scheme. This is more than double the current subscription cost and an amount that Selig cannot afford. Currently, Apollo Pro requires a one-time fee of $4.99 for additional features, and there is a more premium tier called Apollo Ultra priced at $12.99 per year.
Selig expressed disappointment in Reddit's planned pricing, as the company had previously promised not to charge developers an unreasonable fee like Twitter does. While Reddit's charge of $12,000 for 50 million requests is less than Twitter's $42,000 for the same volume, it is still unaffordable for an independent developer.
Selig expected Reddit's pricing to be more in line with what he pays to other platforms. For example, he currently pays $166 per month to Imgur, an image storage site and social network, for 50 million API calls. Selig believes that Reddit's pricing is not based in reality and is not reasonable. Despite having several phone calls with Reddit, the company has maintained that the pricing is inflexible.
Apollo is the most popular third-party Reddit app due to Selig's ongoing work on adding new features and updates, as well as his engagement with users for feedback. While Reddit has its own app, it lacks the same feature options as Apollo. Charging exorbitant fees could force third-party apps to cease operations, thereby pushing users towards Reddit's official app, which the company has more control over.
The news about Reddit's decision to charge for API access came in April, following Twitter's move to eliminate support for third-party apps. While Reddit use remains free for bots and academic researchers, apps like Apollo will need to pay in the future. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman stated that it was a good time for the company to tighten things up and that he considered the pricing to be fair in an interview with The New York Times.
Apollo users are understandably upset about the change, with numerous complaints on platforms like Reddit and Twitter. The future of Apollo is uncertain once Reddit begins charging for API access. At the very least, Selig will need to significantly increase subscription prices, and the app may no longer be able to support free users.