Q&A: Steve Huffman says Reddit's API was “never designed to support third-party apps” and he didn't know how much the apps were “profiting off of our API”

Reddit is fighting for its soul. … Huffman has argued the changes are a business decision …

The Verge 2023-06-16 Jay Peters

Context & Ripple Effects

Huffman's interview extends Reddit's public defense of its API changes after his AMA argued that the company could not keep subsidizing commercial API users. The dispute is therefore not only about technical access, but about who can capture value from Reddit's platform.

Related coverage tied the pricing shift to the growing value of Reddit's data for LLMs and a prospective IPO in the account of Reddit's API-pricing rationale. That makes Huffman's comments a clear statement of Reddit's ownership and monetization claims over its data interface.

First-order effects

Reddit further establishes that third-party apps are not a core use case its API is meant to support, strengthening the company's rationale for charging commercial users rather than preserving prior access economics.
Third-party app developers must justify their businesses against Reddit's new terms and costs; their ability to continue depends more directly on paid access to the platform.

Second-order effects

Developers of Reddit clients face pressure to pass API costs to users, reduce usage, or exit categories that cannot support paid access—an outcome later reflected in apps adopting monthly subscriptions after the changes.
The dispute sharpens the trade-off for Reddit: tighter control can create API revenue and protect data value, while reducing the independent-client ecosystem that serves some of its users and communities.

Third-order effects

If platforms increasingly treat APIs as monetizable data-distribution channels rather than open developer infrastructure, independent clients will become more dependent on platform-set pricing and permissions.
The episode points to a broader split between access for software integrations and paid access for high-value data use, particularly where platform content can support AI-related demand.

The trend: Reddit's API fight is part of the wider shift from subsidized developer access toward pricing and controlling platform data as a commercial asset.

Discussion

@jww.wtf Justin Williams on bluesky
Oh man. He's doing the CEO equivalent of posting through it.
@jakeliebert.com Jake on bluesky
This is probably true, but even so Huffman could have given a longer runway to apps that have been operating within the status quo of the last decade
@benjamingoggin Ben Goggin on x
NEW: Reddit CEO slammed protest leaders in an interview, saying he plans to institute rule changes that would allow users to vote out mods He said mods currently are like “landed gentry,” and the current system isn't democratic. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@nickbaumgardner Nick Baumgardner on x
‘Reddit is fighting for its soul.’ TIL vampires have souls. Who knew https://twitter.com/...
@alecmuffett Alec Muffett on x
Oh dear. It sounds like the Reddit CEO has forgotten that he/they serve the communities which use the site, rather than vice versa. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@papapishu @papapishu on x
sorry but this full interview is one of the funniest things I have ever read I have never seen a ceo so pissed off and losing it https://www.theverge.com/...
@minimaxir Max Woolf on x
The Reddit strike should go on forever just because of this dialogue chain. https://www.theverge.com/... [image]
@film_girl Christina Warren on x
Spez is a little bitch and I hope his IPO fails and he gets shitcanned. https://twitter.com/...
@trevmckendrick Trevor McKendrick on x
.@8Spez betting on the majority of Reddit's userbase being reasonable takes huge guts & is IMO a very good bet https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@moorehn Heidi N. Moore on x
I'm increasingly concerned that tech CEOs have zero knowledge of economic systems, particularly feudalism. There is no parallel between Reddit mods and “landed gentry.” Landed gentry did not do labor. Mods do labor. For free. https://twitter.com/...
@rjonesy Ryan Jones on x
Spez released his offensive. 🍿 “Never designed to support 3rd-party apps” https://www.theverge.com/... Threaten to remove Mods https://www.macrumors.com/... Slams protest leaders https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@cooperlund Cooper Lund on x
Tech companies used to be run by people who were heralded as visionaries, now they're run by rich losers who are mad at the mods https://twitter.com/...
@durjoy Ace Bhattacharjya on x
Someone needs to tell the Reddit Board that they're killing the GOLDEN GOOSE! Feels like Digg all over again. https://www.theverge.com/...
@bobbyallyn Bobby Allyn on x
NEW: In his 1st interview since the boycott, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman tells NPR the protest has not changed the company's plan to start charging for data. Story from me + @NPRinskeep “I think it's time we grow up and behave like an adult company” https://www.npr.org/...
@knittins Nitin Sundar on x
Reddit is going down. Twitter is going down. For all their problems, these were the only two social networks that had any sort of meaningful discourse and debate. Instagram and LinkedIn - both avenues for vain self-aggrandising - continue to thrive. 🤷‍♂️ https://www.theverge.com/…
@docsquiddy Doc on x
does he not remember what reddit (the community, not the company) did to the last CEO who crossed its users? https://twitter.com/...
@queer_queenie Queenie on x
i'm sorry i keep posting about this but i'm in awe at how much of a manchild runs this company. this is the guy they're using to represent themselves before an IPO. wow https://twitter.com/... [image]
@noturtlesoup17 @noturtlesoup17 on x
Gorilla mindset, baby. https://twitter.com/...
@yoda Drew Olanoff on x
never go full elon https://twitter.com/...
@david_ingram David Ingram on x
New from me: I interviewed Reddit CEO Steve Huffman today about the protest that has made much of the site inaccessible this week. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@balf4our Joe on x
Removing devoted volunteers that keep your platform regulated maybe isn't the best way to start making more money https://twitter.com/...
@0x Ezra ‘God’ Olubi on x
is he trying to tank his company's ipo on purpose? or maybe he thinks he's elon musk. 🤭 https://twitter.com/...
@nkulw Noah Kulwin on x
Lol Reddit is only going to get more fun over the next two weeks https://twitter.com/...
@turtlekiosk @turtlekiosk on x
what's funny is the reason the whole open API thing started as a customary thing was as a compromise so people would stop scraping their websites https://twitter.com/...
@dorseyshaw Dorsey Shaw on x
Yeah well users should be able to vote out executives https://twitter.com/...
@jeremypgordon Jeremy Gordon on x
Instigating a trench war against lifelong posters... do not see this going well https://twitter.com/...
@iboudreau Ian Boudreau on x
It also wasn't designed to pay dividends to shareholders https://twitter.com/...
@mirandareinert Miranda on x
me when people on indieheads were calling me annoying and i couldn't do anything about it https://twitter.com/...
@nameshiv @nameshiv on x
Reddit should let employees vote on who the CEO is But the truth is that what we are seeing across the board is a concerted effort from the moneybags to wrest away the most democratic platforms in the world from the actual masses because they don't like what the poors are saying …
@brianmfloyd Brian Floyd on x
the reddit ceo looks like someone who posts in alt-right subreddits https://twitter.com/...
@iqbal_farabi Iqbal Farabi on x
Leading informal groups (such as online/offline communities) is more often than not a thankless job that is done out of passion by those who do it. If your product/service/org relies heavily on communities, removing such leaders is a very reckless move, IMO. https://twitter.com/.…
@rjcc Richard Lawler on x
I feel like the sign that someone doesn't respect you is when they try to sell you NFTs https://twitter.com/...
r/Conservative r on reddit
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r/TwoBestFriendsPlay r on reddit
Reddit CEO: “Better make it easier for the people to vote out those ‘Landed Gentry’ Moderators they don't like”
r/ConservativeKiwi r on reddit
The landed gentry on ToS...
r/Romania r on reddit
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r/RedditAlternatives r on reddit
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r/dezwo r on reddit
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r/auckland r on reddit
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r/TrueAnon r on reddit
Reddit CEO slams protesters, says he'll change site rules. Huffman said in an interview that he plans to institute rules changes …
r/walkaway r on reddit
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r/news r on reddit
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r/truenews r on reddit
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r/Save3rdPartyApps r on reddit
This guy....
r/NPR r on reddit
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@markets @markets on x
Reddit says that most of the company's communities were operating as normal — four days after a protest shut down thousands of its online forums https://www.bloomberg.com/...
r/apple r on reddit
Reddit says it won't force subreddits back open (but will it?)
r/technology r on reddit
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Chronicles