Reddit's Public API Shutdown: Dates, Rules and What Still Works

What Reddit announced on September 30, 2026

Reddit published two admin posts on September 30, 2026: one for moderators in r/modnews and one for developers in r/redditdev, according to PPC Land's account of both posts. TechCrunch reported the news the same day. The posts set an end date for RSS feeds, a closing schedule for the free public Data API, and new limits on Old Reddit.

Reddit's stated reason is abuse: it says RSS has become a common route for large-scale scraping and automated traffic, and gives the same reason for the Old Reddit limits. TechCrunch adds its own reading, which is not Reddit's: the data has become a paid business through AI licensing deals, and Reddit's non-advertising "other revenue" grew 24% year over year to $43 million in its second quarter.

The dates, in order

Two details matter if you are close to a deadline. First, the January wording differs between sources. TechCrunch says Reddit will remove access for any developer that has not registered. PPC Land quotes the developer post as looser: access starts to close for apps and users that have not registered or answered Reddit's outreach. Second, when a developer asked whether March 2027 is final, PPC Land found no admin reply in the thread it captured. Asked separately about extensions, an admin said Reddit wants everyone to have the time they need, which is not a promise of one.

What "public API" means here, and what stays

The change is to the free public Data API, the route bots, moderation tools, research projects and many third-party tools have used to read and act on Reddit. Reddit is not closing all programmatic access. Per the reporting, three routes remain:

• Registered apps until the cut-off. Reddit said more than 14,000 apps and bots had registered by September 30, according to PPC Land. Registration keeps access past January 12; the schedule still closes public access for all remaining apps in March.
• Devvit, Reddit's Developer Platform. Reddit wants bots and tools to move there. Developers describe it as a TypeScript environment, and Reddit said in August that Python support is not on its roadmap (PPC Land).
• Written agreements. PPC Land quotes an admin saying exemptions will exist for partners with written agreements, such as accessibility apps and mobile clients. Reddit has not said which commercial vendors hold such agreements.

PPC Land also notes that the September materials do not mention the Ads API. The dates apply to the public Data API, so tools that only buy and manage Reddit ads are a separate question.

Tools that read Reddit: monitoring, listening and AI assistants

TechCrunch names the tools affected: social listening products, researchers and AI assistants that use the public API to pull Reddit conversations. After March 2027, it says, assistants that answer questions from Reddit will need a commercial deal for the data. If you rely on a keyword alert, a mention tracker or a research export, the question to ask is which route the vendor uses today.

RSS goes first. For moderators, Reddit points to the Discord Relay app on Devvit, which per PPC Land can also send mod alerts to Slack. For anyone using feeds outside a community they moderate, Reddit says there is no replacement. Old Reddit is also narrowing: TechCrunch reports that logged-in access will be limited to people who used it in the last six months, and PPC Land says moderators are exempt.

Tools that post: the rules that already apply

Most coverage of the shutdown is about reading. Tools that post, comment or send messages for a person or a brand get less attention. Reddit's Responsible Builder Policy, updated June 5, 2026, already sets the rules for any app, and it names bots, AI agents and non-human operated accounts:

• You need approval before accessing Reddit data through the API.
• Apps must register and create a developer profile to get an App profile label, and must not get around Reddit's labeling.
• App accounts should be used only for the app's functions. Reddit calls out mixed-use accounts.
• Apps must not manipulate Reddit features such as karma, or get around safety tools like blocks and bans.
• Apps must not spam through automated posts, comments or messages, including identical or near-identical content across subreddits.
• Private messages need the user's explicit consent.
• Commercial use of Reddit data needs Reddit's express written approval.

PPC Land reports that Reddit's registration page says its purpose is to help people tell apps apart from human accounts. If a tool you use posts on Reddit, ask how it fits these rules before January, not after March. For the wider question of what Reddit and the FTC say about AI agents posting, see Can AI agents post on Reddit?. Whether to disclose a connection to a product is the operator's decision, but the platform's rules and the law require disclosing material connections.

The migration bounty, and who it is for

Reddit's 2026 Migration Program Terms run from March 31 to December 31, 2026. Selected developers get a one-time $1,000 payment if their Data API app:

• existed on Reddit before March 25, 2026;
• gives essential utility or moderation to communities with 1,000 or more weekly active users, or important tooling for Reddit users;
• is invited after registering, passes Reddit's app review, and finishes migrating by December 31, 2026.

Awards are limited in number and at Reddit's discretion, and Reddit can change the terms while the program runs. The criteria describe community utilities and mod tools. A commercial marketing or listening product does not obviously fit them; that is our reading, not Reddit's.

What is still unknown

• The exact day in March 2027. Reddit gave none.
• Whether registered apps that have not moved to Devvit stop working in March. PPC Land says a developer asked, and another developer, not Reddit, answered.
• Which listening, research and AI vendors already hold written agreements. Reddit's documents do not say.
• Whether extensions will be granted, and on what terms.
• What paid access will cost for commercial tools after March.

A checklist for teams that rely on a Reddit tool

1. List every tool that touches Reddit
   Include alerts, dashboards, schedulers, AI assistants and scripts someone wrote years ago. Note whether each one reads, posts or both.
2. Ask each vendor how it gets data
   A registered app, a Devvit app, a written agreement with Reddit or RSS. "We have our own method" is not an answer; ask for the route by name.
3. Replace RSS alerts before November 13
   Moderators can move mod alerts to Discord Relay. Other feed users need a different source or have to drop the feed.
4. Check registration before January 12
   If you built a bot or script yourself, registration is the step that keeps access until March. New public API requests are not accepted after October 31.
5. Check posting tools against the builder policy
   Registered and labeled app accounts, no mixed-use accounts, no duplicate posts across subreddits, and consent before private messages.
6. Put the update dates in the calendar
   Reddit scheduled progress updates for November 10, 2026 and February 23, 2027. Re-check the timetable after each one.

If the tool you use goes away, the work it did still has to happen somewhere. Our list of Reddit marketing tools and the Reddit platform page cover what we track. For accounts whose comments vanish or never show up, the shadowban check and the guide to hidden comments on new accounts explain what to look at. For why Reddit threads keep turning up in AI answers, see Reddit and AI search citations.

Questions

Is Reddit shutting down its API completely?

No. The free public Data API closes in March 2027, but registered apps keep access until then, Devvit apps keep running on Reddit's own platform, and partners with written agreements, such as accessibility apps and some mobile clients, are exempt according to PPC Land's report of Reddit's posts.

When exactly does Reddit's public API close?

Reddit said March 2027 and, according to PPC Land, gave no day of the month. Earlier steps have fixed dates: new access requests stop on October 31, 2026, RSS ends on November 13, 2026, and unregistered apps start losing access from January 12, 2027.

Will Reddit RSS feeds still work after November 13, 2026?

No, according to TechCrunch and PPC Land. Moderators can move mod alerts to the Discord Relay app on Devvit. For feeds outside a community you moderate, Reddit says there is no replacement, so monitoring built on RSS needs a different source.

Can a tool switch to scraping Reddit instead?

Not within Reddit's terms. Section 7 of the User Agreement prohibits collecting data from Reddit except as its terms or a separate agreement allow, and it says scraping without Reddit's prior written consent is prohibited. Losing the public API does not change that.

Do AI assistants lose access to Reddit content?

TechCrunch reports that AI assistants using the public API to answer questions from Reddit will need commercial deals for the data once public access ends in March 2027. PPC Land notes that Reddit's documents do not say which vendors already hold written agreements, so ask the assistant's maker directly.

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