Reddit Ends RSS Feeds and Public API, Citing AI Scrapers

Reddit is closing two of its most open doors. On Wednesday, the company said it will stop supporting RSS feeds on November 13 and shut down its public API by March 2027. The reason it gives is automated scraping, and the timing lines up with the growing value of Reddit's data to AI companies.

The news came as part of a larger set of updates for moderators and developers. For people who still read the web through feeds, it is an unwelcome change.

Why RSS is going away

Reddit describes RSS as a "common surface for large-scale scraping and automated abuse." In its view, the feeds have become an easy way for bots to pull content off the platform in bulk.

The company also acknowledged what it is giving up. "We know RSS has been a beloved part of the open web for a long time, and we're grateful to everyone who used it to stay connected to Reddit," it wrote in the announcement.

For readers less familiar with it, RSS (Really Simple Syndication, or Rich Site Summary) is a standard format that lets apps and people follow updates to a website. It became popular during the blogging era, when readers used news-reader apps to subscribe to new posts. Google ran the most widely used reader until it shut the service down in 2013. Companies like Feedly and a number of independent apps filled the gap.

Moderators get a workaround, everyone else doesn't

Many moderators rely on RSS to receive alerts about activity in their communities. Reddit is pointing them to the Discord Relay Devvit app instead. Devvit is Reddit's own developer platform. The company is asking moderation teams to check their setups and move their workflows before November 13 to avoid problems.

Outside moderation, there is no substitute. Reddit said it has no replacement for RSS feeds used by people outside the moderator community.

The pushback started before Wednesday's announcement. When Reddit first signalled that RSS was on the way out, many moderators warned that the site would become unmanageable for them. Regular users said RSS was simply how they preferred to read Reddit.

The public API ends in March 2027

The larger change for the AI industry is the end of public API access. Any tool that reads Reddit conversations programmatically will be affected. That includes social listening products, research tools and AI products such as assistants.

Right now, AI assistants can use Reddit to answer questions. Once public access closes, they will need a commercial agreement with Reddit to get the data.

Developers building approved third-party apps and bots also have a deadline. They must register them with Reddit before January 12, 2027. After that date, Reddit will cut API access for any developer who has not registered.

Old Reddit gets tighter too

Reddit is also adding what it calls "safeguards" to Old Reddit, the classic, text-heavy version of the site. Access will be limited to logged-in moderators and recent users. Reddit again cited "abusive scraping and automated traffic" as the reason.

Over the next few months, logged-in access to Old Reddit will be limited to people who have used it within the last six months. Reddit's earlier materials put that window at 90 days. The company extended it just as the news went out.

The company also shared progress updates on its Rules Hub and changes to auto-mod.

The money behind the move

Reddit's forums hold a large archive of user-written content, and that archive has turned into a profitable side business through AI licensing deals. In its second quarter, Reddit reported that "other revenue" outside advertising grew 24% year over year to $43 million. With that line growing, handing the same data out for free through open feeds and APIs makes less business sense.

Our Take

This looks less like a technical cleanup and more like Reddit putting a fence around an asset it can sell. Closing RSS and the public API routes AI companies toward paid licensing, which is where the new revenue comes from. The scraping concerns may be real, but the business logic is hard to separate from them.

It fits a wider pattern. Platforms and publishers are working out what their content is worth to AI systems, and the answers so far have been uneven. The dispute over payments to publishers for AI answers shows how contested that value still is.

The cost falls on everyone else. Researchers, small developers and feed readers lose access that used to be free, and many will not be able to negotiate deals. It is worth watching whether Reddit offers any path for academic or non-commercial use before March 2027. It is also worth watching whether other large platforms follow with similar restrictions, and how moderators cope once RSS goes dark in November.