Some Reddit community content will become paid later this year, according to the platform’s CEO Steve Huffman, who had previously not ruled out the possibility of introducing a new type of subreddit with “exclusive content or closed sections” that community users would have to pay to access.
Image source: Reddit
During an Ask Me Anything Q&A this week, Huffman was asked about plans for some Reddit users to create “content that only paid users can see.” “That’s something that’s in the works right now, so that’s still in the works. We’re working on that,” Huffman said in response. “Paid subreddits, yes,” Huffman also responded to a question about “new key features that Reddit is planning to roll out in 2025.”
The paywall will likely only apply to certain subreddits, rather than all of the existing subreddits on the platform. Last summer, Huffman said that even with paid content, the free Reddit would “continue to exist, grow, and thrive.”
It’s worth noting that Reddit already has paid communities. For example, r/Lounge is only accessible to users with a Reddit Gold subscription, which requires a monthly fee. It’s possible that Reddit will build a paid access system for some of the content it publishes around the Reddit Contribution Program, which currently allows you to “earn money for qualified contributions to the Reddit community, including rewards and karma, collectible avatars, and developer apps.”
According to Reddit, the platform pays users $0.01 per gold earned, depending on the amount of karma earned over the past year, as part of the program. To be able to withdraw funds, you must earn at least 1,000 gold, which is equivalent to $10.
During a recent conversation, Huffman also said that this year, Reddit is “laying the groundwork” for the ability to monetize commerce within subreddits, including when users of the site buy things from other users through subreddit threads. The transaction feature could eventually allow Reddit users to make payments directly on the platform.
Reddit executives also discussed how they could add more advertising to the platform. The push to implement advertising comes after the platform changed its policy on Reddit’s API, which shut down most third-party clients for interacting with the service. Reddit began testing advertising content in comments last year, which is expected to increase over time.