Reddit API Pricing: Costs, Limits, Access

Last verified: 17 October 2026. Reddit's API terms change often; every figure below links to the Reddit page it came from.

Reddit's Data API is free up to 100 queries per minute per OAuth client ID, and Reddit's published rate for apps that need more is $0.24 per 1,000 API calls. The harder part is getting a key: self-service access is closed, every new app needs Reddit's approval, and commercial use needs Reddit's written approval.

Below are the official limits and approval rules, when the official API is the right tool, and what to do when you can't get access.

What the official Reddit API costs and requires

All rows verified on 17 October 2026 against Reddit's own pages.

The $0.24 rate is the sentence Reddit still publishes on its API facts page (last updated 30 June 2023). The current Data API Wiki restates the 100 QPM free limit and does not list a newer paid price.

The gotcha: the key, not the price

For most projects the 100 QPM free tier is enough, and the money never matters. What blocks people is approval. You can't create an app and start calling the API the same afternoon any more: you describe your use case, wait for a response, and a commercial use case needs written approval on top. Developers in Reddit's own developer community have asked Reddit to commit to response times for these requests, which tells you to plan for waiting.

Two smaller traps once you have a key. The limit is per OAuth client ID and averaged over 10 minutes, so a burst can pass while a steady crawl gets throttled; read the X-Ratelimit-Used, X-Ratelimit-Remaining and X-Ratelimit-Reset headers instead of guessing. And the deletion rule means you need a way to re-check stored posts and drop the ones users removed.

When the official API is the right choice

Use Reddit's API when you can get approved for your use case. It is the only route for:

• Acting as a user: posting, commenting, voting, sending messages
• Moderation tools that act on a subreddit
• Logged-in data: a user's own subscriptions, saved posts, inbox
• Commercial or AI-training use of Reddit data, which needs Reddit's written approval whatever route you use to collect it

If you're building a moderator tool or a non-commercial research project, start with Reddit's form or research program: those are the cases Reddit has said it keeps free.

When it doesn't fit

The official API is hard to use when you only need to read public posts and comments and can't wait for approval, or your request was turned down. Your options:

• Read public pages yourself. Reddit serves logged-out visitors public subreddits, posts and comments. Building on that means handling blocks, challenge pages and markup that changes without notice.
• Use a hosted public-data API. Someone else runs the collection and you get JSON. Compare on the fields you need and what a failed call costs you, not only on price per request.

Reddit's terms still apply to how you collect and use the data, whichever route you take. Read Reddit's Developer Terms, Data API Terms and Responsible Builder Policy, and check the terms for your use case.

Public Reddit data with Captapi

Captapi returns public Reddit data over REST with one API key, with no Reddit app or OAuth flow on your side. Credits per call, from our published OpenAPI spec:

The newest posts in a subreddit:

curl "https://api.captapi.com/v1/reddit/subreddit-posts?url=r/redditdev&sort=new&limit=2" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CAPTAPI_KEY"

JavaScript:

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.captapi.com/v1/reddit/subreddit-posts?" +
    new URLSearchParams({ url: "r/redditdev", sort: "new", limit: "2" }),
  { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.CAPTAPI_KEY}` } },
);
const { data } = await res.json();
for (const p of data.posts) {
  console.log(p.publishedAt, p.score, p.author, p.title);
}
if (data.hasMore) console.log("next", data.nextCursor);

Python:

import httpx, os

r = httpx.get(
    "https://api.captapi.com/v1/reddit/subreddit-posts",
    params={"url": "r/redditdev", "sort": "new", "limit": 2},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CAPTAPI_KEY']}"},
    timeout=90,
)
data = r.json()["data"]
for p in data["posts"]:
    print(p["publishedAt"], p["score"], p["author"], p["title"])
print("next", data.get("nextCursor"))

Response from production on 17 October 2026, trimmed. The newest two posts in r/redditdev that day; this is the second:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "subreddit": "redditdev",
    "sort": "new",
    "totalReturned": 2,
    "nextCursor": "t3_1x7frmx",
    "hasMore": true,
    "posts": [
      {
        "id": "1x7frmx",
        "name": "t3_1x7frmx",
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/redditdev/comments/1x7frmx/how_to_read_hot_and_rising_trends_from_scriptn8n/",
        "title": "How to read hot and rising trends from script/n8n?",
        "text": "I want to build a little PoC/App:\n\nOnce a day I want to fetch hot and rising posts from a subreddit…\n\nWhen I open both links in my browser, where I am already logged into Reddit, it works fine.\n\nBut in a private browser window or from console, with curl, I only get: \"You've been blocked by network security.\"\n\nHow can I fetch the data? I do not want to post anything, just read.",
        "author": "BonoboAffe",
        "authorFullname": "t2_18uy6eyy",
        "score": 1,
        "upvoteRatio": 1.0,
        "scoreHidden": null,
        "comments": 1,
        "subscriberCount": null,
        "publishedAt": "2026-10-16T13:07:51.000Z",
        "flair": null,
        "nsfw": false
      }
    ],
    "fetchedAt": "2026-10-17T13:21:49.116Z"
  }
}

Each post carries name (Reddit's t3_ ID) and nextCursor is the last returned post's name; pass it back as cursor for the next page.

What Captapi doesn't return

• Anything behind a login: private communities, a user's subscriptions, saved posts or messages.
• Write actions: posting, commenting, voting, moderating. That is the official API's job.
• The full comment tree of a big thread. Post Comments returns the comments Reddit loads on the public post page, with the replies shown under them, and has no further pages.
• Member counts. Reddit's public subreddit page shows weekly visitors and contributions instead, so that is what we return.
• Post bodies in search results. Search returns result cards; call Post Details for the full post.

Everything we return is what Reddit shows a logged-out visitor. See the full list on the Reddit API overview. If you're comparing official API costs across platforms, the same breakdown for Instagram is in Instagram API pricing.

FAQ

Is the Reddit API free?

Up to 100 queries per minute per OAuth client ID, averaged over 10 minutes. Reddit said apps that aren't monetized and stay under that limit don't pay, and non-commercial researchers and moderator tools get free access.

How much does the Reddit API cost above the free tier?

Reddit's published rate, from its June 2023 announcement, is $0.24 per 1,000 API calls for third-party apps that need higher limits. Reddit's current pages don't list a newer price.

How do I get a Reddit API key?

Through Reddit's approval process. Self-service access closed in November 2025, so you submit Reddit's API access request form describing your use case and wait for approval before you get OAuth credentials. Researchers apply through Reddit's research program.

Can I use Reddit data commercially or to train AI models?

Not without Reddit's express written approval, according to Reddit's Responsible Builder Policy. Read the policy and check the terms for your use case.

Can I read public Reddit posts without an API key?

Not through the official API: Reddit blocks traffic without OAuth. Public subreddits, posts and comments are visible to logged-out visitors on reddit.com, which is what public-data APIs such as the Reddit Subreddit Posts API read.

Try it on your own data: get a free API key. You get 100 credits after you verify your email.