Reddit is planning to introduce a paywall this yr, CEO Steve Huffman mentioned throughout a videotaped Ask Me Something (AMA) session on Thursday.
Huffman beforehand confirmed curiosity in probably introducing a brand new kind of subreddit with “unique content material or personal areas” that Reddit customers would pay to entry.
When requested this week about plans for some Redditors to create “content material that solely paid members can see,” Huffman mentioned:
It’s a piece in progress proper now, in order that one’s coming… We’re engaged on it as we communicate.
When requested about “new, key options that you simply plan to roll out for Reddit in 2025,” Huffman responded, partly: “Paid subreddits, sure.”
Reddit’s paywall would ostensibly solely apply to sure new subreddit sorts, not any subreddits at the moment out there. In August, Huffman mentioned that even with paywalled content material, free Reddit would “live on and develop and thrive.”
A important facet of any potential plan to make Reddit customers pay to entry subreddit content material is figuring out how associated Reddit customers will probably be compensated. Reddit might have a tougher time getting volunteer moderators to wrangle discussions on paid-for subreddits—if it makes use of volunteer mods in any respect. Balancing paid and free content material would even be essential to keep away from polarizing a lot of Reddit’s present person base.
Reddit has had paid-for premium variations of neighborhood options earlier than, like r/Lounge, a subreddit that solely individuals with Reddit Gold, which you need to purchase with actual cash, can entry.
Reddit would additionally want to think about the way it would possibly compensate individuals for user-generated content material that individuals pay to entry, as Reddit’s enterprise is basically constructed on free, user-generated content material. The Reddit Contributor Program, launched in September 2023, might be a basis; it lets customers “earn cash for his or her qualifying contributions to the Reddit neighborhood, together with awards and karma, collectible avatars, and developer apps,” based on Reddit. Reddit says it pays as much as $0.01 per 1 Gold obtained, relying on how a lot karma the person has earned over the previous yr. For somebody to pay out, they want a minimum of 1,000 Gold, which is equal to $10.
