Life-or-Death Battle: Developer’s App On The Line For Mind-Blowing $20M
I don’t understand how this cost is reasonable or even acceptable in some ways.
Hold on to your upvotes, folks, because the Reddit API situation just took a hilarious twist.
It turns out that Apollo, the beloved Reddit app for iOS, might be facing a colossal bill that could make Jeff Bezos do a double take.
We’re talking millions of dollars, people! According to developer Christian Selig, Reddit is planning to charge Apollo a whopping $20 million per year if it keeps running at its current scale.
That’s enough to make even Elon Musk’s wallet tremble in fear.
But wait, it gets even more ridiculous. Reddit’s new API rules allow them to limit the number of API calls made by third-party clients like Apollo.
In their infinite wisdom, they’ve decided to charge a mind-boggling $12,000 for every 50 million requests.
It’s like they’re selling API calls at a price only a Kardashian could afford!
Now, let’s crunch some numbers. Apollo, being the busy bee that it is, generated a staggering 7 billion API queries last month.
If Selig wants to keep the same pace, he’ll have to shell out $1.7 million per month or that eye-popping $20 million per year.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t even imagine how many loaves of bread I could buy with that kind of dough.“I’m deeply disappointed in this price,” writes Selig.
“While Reddit has been communicative and civil throughout this process, including a half-dozen phone calls back and forth that I thought went well, I don’t see how this pricing is based on reality or remotely reasonable.” I’m sure I don’t have that type of money or know how to charge it to a credit card.”
Naturally, Selig isn’t too thrilled about this. He’s “deeply disappointed” with the pricing.
Who wouldn’t be? He’s facing a bill bigger than the national debt of a small country! And he’s not alone in his dismay.
Other developers and Reddit users are also scratching their heads, wondering if the folks at Reddit have lost touch with reality.
“Aside from that… I’ll have to think about it for a few more days.” Unfortunately, this does not dig well for other third-party Reddit applications, such as Rif and Relay, which might be subject to comparable taxes.
To make matters worse, this new API fiasco could spell trouble for other third-party Reddit apps like Rif and Relay.
If they’re hit with similar costs, it’s like a slapstick comedy where all the hilarious characters are falling into an API-shaped pit.
“Without third party apps, I’ll abandon Reddit like I abandoned Twitter” — Reddit User
But hey, there’s still hope on the horizon. Selig is hoping that Reddit will come to its senses and find a way to make everyone happy.
Maybe they’ll have a “Reddit API Bake Sale” or organize a celebrity charity auction to fund these exorbitant fees.
We could see Elon Musk auctioning off his rocket-shaped cheese grater or Jeff Bezos offering up a lifetime supply of Amazon Prime subscriptions. The possibilities are endless!
In the meantime, let’s not forget the impact on the Reddit community.
If third-party apps like Apollo go down, many users have declared that they’ll abandon ship faster than a sinking Titanic.
They rely on Apollo’s lightning-fast page loading, customizable gestures, and improved comment formatting.
Without them, it’s like taking a smartphone away from a millennial — pure chaos!
So, Reddit, it’s time to take a hard look at the situation and listen to your users.
Don’t make the same mistake as Twitter and send developers fleeing with their credit cards in hand.
Keep the Reddit experience lively and vibrant, or else you’ll have a front-row seat to the great migration of Redditors, leaving the platform like it’s a sinking social media ship.
As the tab closes, open a $1 coffee opportunity for creativity!
