This third-party Reddit app can survive — but only with a paid subscription

Many third-party Reddit apps will be shut down due to the platform’s prohibitively expensive API changes, but I found one app that does. Strength Survive – and only by abandoning the free version of the app and switching entirely to a monthly subscription.

Dave stated that “there is no economically viable way for me to continue offering the free version of Relay,” given the $20 million a year cost of maintaining Apollo for Reddit under the new policies. Might not come as a surprise. It has reduced the number of API calls per user per day, and is “likely” to offer subscriptions to the app at $2 or $3 per month, at the new level of calls.

However, “the whole model is ultimately subject to how many, and what kind, users choose to stick with Relay as a subscription-based app,” Dave wrote. He added that the app would be ad-free and would not contain recommended content. It will also not include sexually explicit material, which is a limitation imposed on All apps using Reddit’s Data API, He added that the timeline for making the change is “dangerously tight” — Reddit’s new API pricing goes into effect on July 1.

Still, it’s good to hear that at least one third-party Reddit developer sees a possible path forward. We’ve reached out to Dave to see if he can share any more details about his plans.