Reddit is planning to introduce a paywall this 12 months, CEO Steve Huffman stated throughout a videotaped Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Thursday.
Huffman beforehand showed interest in probably introducing a brand new sort 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 stated:
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 varieties, not any subreddits presently out there. In August, Huffman stated that even with paywalled content material, free Reddit would “live on and develop and thrive.”
A vital side of any potential plan to make Reddit customers pay to entry subreddit content material is figuring out how associated Reddit customers can be compensated. Reddit could 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 it’s a must to purchase with actual cash, can entry.
Reddit would additionally want to think about the way it may compensate individuals for user-generated content material that folks pay to entry, as Reddit’s enterprise is basically constructed on free, user-generated content material. The Reddit Contributor Program, launched in September 2023, could possibly 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,” according to Reddit. Reddit says it pays as much as $0.01 per 1 Gold acquired, relying on how a lot karma the person has earned over the previous 12 months. For somebody to pay out, they want at the very least 1,000 Gold, which is equal to $10.