Its RSS feeds end 13 November 2026; public API access disappears by March 2027, with migration support and automation limits challenged
To curb large-scale scraping by AI systems and other automated services, social media platform Reddit is shutting down Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and phasing out its public application programming interface (API) as it tightens access to user-generated content and attempts.
The firm has announced that RSS has become “a common surface for large-scale scraping and automated abuse” and that its support will end 13 November 2026, while remaining public API access will be eliminated by March 2027.
The changes will affect third-party tools used for social listening, research, community management, and AI applications. Reddit will stop accepting new API access requests after 31 October 31 2026. Beginning 12 January 12, 2027, it will start removing access from apps and developers that have not registered or responded to its outreach. Existing access will end for everyone else in March 2027.
Alternatives available
Moderators who use RSS to monitor activity in their own communities are being directed to Discord Relay, a Devvit app on Reddit’s Developer Platform. Reddit has urged moderators to review their configurations and move their workflows before the RSS shutdown. Users who rely on RSS to follow communities they do not moderate, however, will have no direct replacement, according to a report by The Verge.
More than 14,000 apps and bots have registered to migrate to its Developer Platform. To encourage the transition, Reddit is offering eligible apps US$1,000 each from a US$1million migration fund, along with technical assistance and other support. It will also be restricting access to Old Reddit, its legacy desktop interface.
In the coming months, logged-in users will generally need to have used the interface within the previous six months to continue accessing it. Logged-in moderators will be exempt from that recent-use requirement. Reddit said the restrictions respond to abusive scraping and automated traffic.
Mixed reactions
Moderators have criticized the broader changes, particularly limits on Automoderator. New communities and those that have never used the tool will lose its enforcement functions, including filtering, removing, approving, and marking posts as spam.
Reddit is directing those communities toward Rules Hub and Automations instead.
The changes arrive as Reddit’s non-advertising revenue, which includes AI data-licensing deals, reached US$43m in the second quarter of 2026, up 24% year over year, according to one report.
