Reddit app 'Apollo' is shutting down over Reddit's expensive API prices

Apollo is shutting down

Reddit had announced its intention to implement a fee for accessing its API earlier in 2023. The increased costs, which will go into effect on June 19, affect third-party apps built to help people access the Reddit platform.

Developed by Christian Selig, Apollo has emerged as arguably the most widely used app for accessing Reddit. But Selig announced on Thursday that he has no choice to shut down Apollo on June 30 because of the increased expenses associated with API access.

The issue is that Reddit has decided to charge $0.02 per user for accessing its service. As a result, Apollo would face an estimated annual cost of $20 million even before generating any profit from developing the app.

Selig, an independent developer, wrote that the cost is beyond his financial means and claims that Reddit assured him the new pricing would be fair.

"Apollo's price would be approximately $2.50 per month per user, with Reddit's indicated cost being approximately $0.12 per their own numbers," he said. "A 20x increase does not seem "based in reality" to me."

He further wrote that increasing the Apollo subscription cost isn't a viable option given Reddit's 30-day deadline. Approximately 50,000 people have a yearly subscription to Apollo, which means their price is already locked in.

"So you see, even if I increase the price for new subscribers, I still have those many users to contend with," Selig writes. "If I wait until their subscription expires, slowly month after month there will be less of them."

If he removes the Reddit API from Apollo, the app will lose the ability to retrieve Reddit content. As a result, many users will likely ask for a refund on their annual app subscriptions.

Selig anticipates that he could be responsible for a substantial sum of $250,000 if that happens. As a result, it's more affordable for him to shut down.