- Reddit has drastically tightened the conditions of its API, forcing the closure of long-standing alternative clients such as Apollo, ReddPlanet, and Sync due to unsustainable costs.
- Classic guides for patching Reddit clients using App ID and tools like ReVanced are no longer valid and show the limits of "bypassing" official restrictions.
- The overall context reflects a commitment by major platforms to control and monetize their APIs, while search is diversifying but Google remains the cornerstone of SEO.
- In parallel, self-managed solutions such as AI agents on VPS are proliferating, combining multiple API providers, reducing dependence on third parties, and allowing finer control of costs and privacy.
If you've come this far wondering How to continue using Reddit with alternative clients After the API change, the first thing you should know is that the landscape has completely shifted. Reddit has tightened the economic and technical requirements for accessing its API so much that many large, traditional third-party clients have had to pull the plug and close the door.
For years, apps like Apollo, ReddPlanet, and Sync were the preferred way for many people to browse Reddit without using the official app. However, with the new pricing structure, Keeping an alternative customer base alive has become a luxury that's hard to afford.especially for independent developers who don't have a large company behind them to absorb those costs.
What happened to the Reddit API and why have so many customers dropped it?
The turning point came when Reddit introduced a new pricing model for its API, with figures that, in practice, They ban most third-party applications from the game.The most talked-about case was that of Apollo: its creator, Christian Selig, explained that, with the new prices, he would have to spend around 20 million dollars a year to continue offering the service as we knew it.
The fee set by Reddit established a cost of around $12.500 for every 50 million requestsIt might seem like an abstract number, but if you apply it to a client as popular as Apollo, which made nearly 7.000 billion requests annually, the bill skyrockets to several million dollars each year. For an independent developer, that figure is simply unfeasible.
From there, other landmark projects followed the same path. The head of ReddPlanet openly stated that the obstacles that Reddit imposed on third-party apps They were beyond saving, and he even went so far as to say that the platform's intention was, literally, to extinguish all alternative clients. Meanwhile, the creator of Sync, a popular Android client, announced that he would shut it down before the new terms took effect, because continuing no longer made economic or operational sense.
This move by Reddit is not happening in a vacuum. It's part of a broader trend across major tech platforms. restrict or increase the cost of access to their APIsTwitter, for example, drastically cut off access to its own platform, effectively shutting down long-standing clients like Tweetbot. Meanwhile, Reddit has also implemented staff reductions, with layoffs affecting around 5% of its workforce, amid a broader downsizing in the tech sector.
The classic guide to "patching" Reddit clients and their current status
Amid all this chaos, guides and tutorials emerged to try Continue using alternative clients with the Reddit APIeither through advanced configuration or by directly patching the applications. One of the best-known methods involved using Infinity as a starting point and then applying modifications using the ReVanced app.
It's important to make something clear from the start: That specific guide is no longer validFor new users looking to patch Reddit apps, the community itself often directs them to more up-to-date tutorials, such as the one by u/wchill (Patcheddit project) hosted on GitHub. Even so, understanding how the old guide worked helps to grasp the logic behind these solutions and why Reddit tries to block them.
How the method worked with Infinity and ReVanced
The classic approach to keeping an alternative client alive involved acquiring a Legitimate Client ID (or App ID) linked to your Reddit account and reuse it in any client you want, patched to "impersonate" another.
Part 1: Obtaining the App ID using Infinity
The first set of steps required starting with the original, unmodified version of Infinity. The reason is that Infinity was used as a trampoline to obtain a Reddit-approved application identifier, which was then reused by other clients.
The sequence was essentially as follows: first you installed the original Infinity on your device and, from the hamburger menu (the three lines), You accessed the login flowThere you would select “Click here to log in” and then “Add an account”. Once inside, you would authenticate with your Reddit credentials and accept the permissions so that the client could act on your behalf.
In some cases, after accepting, the app tried to show you a notification related to paid subscriptions or premium features. The recommendation was clear: If a screen appeared asking you to subscribe, you simply closed the application. without going any further. The important thing was that Reddit had already registered the authorization of that client associated with your account.
Shortly after granting that access, you would receive an automated email from Reddit detailing the recent authorization. This message contained a string identified as "App ID." The key to the entire method was that That App ID string is actually the Client ID of the application, and the guide insisted that it was universal: you could use that same identifier in any other alternative client, not just in Infinity.
Once you had the App ID safely saved, the next step was to uninstall Infinity. The goal was simply to extract that identifier and then work with your favorite client, patched using ReVanced.
Part 2: Configuring Patches in ReVanced
The second part revolved around Revanceda very popular tool for patch Android applications by adding features or altering its behavior. Although it is usually associated with YouTube, it has also been used to modify other APKs, including Reddit clients.
The basic mechanics were to open the ReVanced app, tap on “Patcher” and select the application to be modified using the storage option, thus choosing the APK file of the desired client (it didn't have to be Infinity; you could choose any other compatible alternative client).
Within the patches section, the guide indicated that they should activate two specific patchesOne of them was called the "Spoof client," which had its own configuration button. When pressed, a field appeared that, by default, displayed "null." That's where your App ID was entered.
The trick was to replace that "null" with the App ID string obtained from the Reddit email. This way, the patched client sent API requests as if it were the application Reddit had authorized. After pasting the identifier, the changes were saved and the patch selection was confirmed.
The guide insisted that the The retrieved App ID was reusable with any client....as long as the API and policies allowed it. That detail made the method especially attractive, because you only had to perform the process once to reuse the same identifier in different apps.
Part 3: Patching, Installing, and Managing Access
With everything ready in ReVanced, it was time to apply the patch. The "Patch" button was pressed, and a few seconds (usually 15 or 20) were waited until the process finished. When the patching was successful, the option to directly install the modified APK on the device was offered.
Once the patched application was installed, the next step was to open it and Try logging in with your Reddit accountHere appeared the final obstacle: sometimes Reddit returned errors or blocked logins, especially depending on the country from which the connection was made or if it detected suspicious patterns.
The solution proposed by the guide, in those cases, was to resort to a VPN service like ProtonVPN and select a server based in a European country. After changing the virtual location and repeating the login attempt, many people were able to complete the process without further errors.
Once the login was successful, the mission was accomplished: you could now continue using an alternative client with API access, masking its official identity with the authorized App ID. This was a way to circumvent, in practice, the economic and product limitations that Reddit wanted to impose on third-party applications.
Why Reddit and other platforms are cutting off alternative clients
This entire scenario is part of a broader trend within the digital ecosystem. It is becoming increasingly clear that Large platforms are seeking to gain better control over how their data and services are accessed.And paid or restricted APIs are a key tool for this.
On one hand, there is the purely economic dimension: Reddit is preparing its IPO and needs monetize any valuable assetAnd its dataset of conversations and communities is pure gold for advertising, AI model training, and third-party agreements. Allowing alternative clients free and unrestricted access directly contradicts those objectives.
On the other hand, there's the issue of product control. Third-party apps, in many cases, offered better user experiences than the official appLess advertising, more customization options, early support for advanced features, and, in general, a more attentive approach to the end user. From Reddit's perspective, this erodes the use of its own app, where it concentrates its monetization capabilities and most valuable data.
And, on a broader level, we see a common pattern: Twitter limited its API to the point of near impracticality, excluding long-standing clients; other platforms have been restricting their endpoints or raising prices. Meanwhile, in parallel, internet search is fragmenting into multiple channels beyond Google, with users consulting directly on Amazon, YouTube or even on AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini.
Search is diversifying, but Google continues to set the pace
Reddit's changes also fit into the evolution of the content search and discovery ecosystem itself. A recent study by SparkToro has quantified a reality that many already suspected: People no longer just "search on Google"It also does so in marketplaces, social networks, video platforms, and AI assistants.
However, when we look at the European context, and at countries like Spain in particular, the data shows that Google remains by far the biggest battleground for SEOThe weight of the search engine, in practice, is even greater than in the United States, so although the search is diversified, the priority remains optimizing for Google if you want to gain organic visibility.
Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are becoming more prevalent in search habits, but their actual market share, compared to the volume handled by traditional search engines, remains relatively small. For any serious content strategy, AI should be viewed as a add-on and a new channelnot as a total replacement for Google.
This means that SEO can no longer be narrowly understood as "being at the top of the classic Google SERP." More and more users are discovering products, comparing options, or searching for information directly on Amazon, YouTube, or within communities like Reddit (or their alternative clients, as long as they continue to exist). Therefore, Organic visibility must be viewed as a broader ecosystemwhere Google is in charge, but it is not the only relevant player.
Lessons from other environments: APIs, automation, and proprietary infrastructure
What's happening with Reddit is even better understood if we look at how other technology projects manage access to their services and how advanced users are reacting. A good example is the world of artificial intelligence applied to autonomous agents, where the key lies in combining proprietary infrastructure with third-party APIs to avoid depending on a single supplier.
In that context, the case of OpenClaw (formerly known as Clawdbot and Moltbot) stands out, an AI assistant that functions as a autonomous agent capable of acting on your behalf on the internetYou can open pages, search for information, compare prices, interact with external services, and hold conversations through channels like Telegram or WhatsApp.
Unlike a traditional chatbot that only responds to messages, OpenClaw is designed to have "digital hands," so if you ask it to find a cheap flight and send it to your phone, it doesn't just explain how to do it: it actually does it. It also exhibits some proactive behavior, such as checking your calendar and notifying you if it detects conflicts with other commitments you've mentioned.
This project has gone through several name changes because trademark conflicts with AnthropicThe company behind the Claude model went from Clawdbot to Moltbot, and finally adopted the definitive name OpenClaw. This rapid succession of renamings has meant that resources, forums, and tutorials with the old labels still circulate online, which in turn has led to the appearance of fake accounts or unofficial repositories that try to take advantage of the confusion to scam or capture private keys.
The general recommendation for this type of project is always the same: Download the software exclusively from the official repository. and be wary of any dubious variant that promises "improved versions" or magical access to free paid APIs.
Why many users prefer a VPS over a home server
When these autonomous agents first appeared, many people's instinctive reaction was to install them on their own personal computers. The problem is that an assistant designed to work 24/7 means having the computer on all the time, with the consequent electricity consumption, heat and wearFurthermore, you are giving experimental software direct access to your main machine, with all your personal files.
This has led to a curious trend: using a Mac Mini as a home server dedicated to AI. And it's no coincidence: Apple's chips consume very little power, are quiet, and offer enough power to run these types of applications. The problem is that, for this specific use, Spending 700 or 800 euros on dedicated hardware is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.The agent doesn't need a crazy GPU or a monstrous processor, because the heavy computation is done by APIs in the cloud.
The alternative that many consider more sensible is to hire a Cheap VPS (Virtual Private Server)Basically, you get a remote computer that's always on, isolated from your personal data, with a fast connection and a very low monthly cost. A modest plan, around €3,50 per month with 4 GB of RAM, is usually more than enough to keep an agent like OpenClaw running smoothly day and night.
Clear advantages: no noise or heat in your home, you're not exposing your personal folders to the assistant, and if one day you decide you're no longer interested, you simply cancel the VPS without being left with a Mac gathering dust. This same logic can be applied to other services that rely on APIs, whether they're alternative Reddit clients, automation bots, or advanced integrations.
How to install and secure an OpenClaw-type AI assistant on a VPS
Although the central question of this article revolves around Reddit and its third-party clients, understanding how to build and secure your own AI infrastructure helps to see What real alternatives exist to avoid blindly relying on platforms?OpenClaw is a good practical example of this approach.
The typical process begins by contracting a VPS from a trusted provider and waiting for the activation email with the server IP address and login credentials as the root user. From there, you connect via SSH using the terminal (or a client like PuTTY on Windows), and once inside, the first thing to do is update the system and install Dockerwhich will be the basis on which the different containers of the assistant will run.
With Docker running, download the official OpenClaw repository and run its automatic installation script. This usually launches an interactive wizard in the console, where you can accept most of the default options if you don't want to complicate things. The script then starts the necessary containers and gets the service up and running.
When everything is green, you access the control panel from the browser by typing the VPS IP address followed by a specific port (for example, the IP combination:18789From there you can manage the basic settings of the assistant, including the connection to the AI APIs that will act as the "brain".
The critical part comes when it comes to protecting the server. A VPS exposed to the internet is a magnet for bots that try to force access by repeatedly guessing passwords. This is where a tool like [tool name missing] comes into play. Fail2Ban, who acts as a digital nightclub bouncerIf it detects multiple failed attempts, it automatically blocks the attacking IP address.
In addition, it is highly recommended to configure a firewall (for example, UFW on Debian/Ubuntu-based systems) to close all ports except those that are essentialThis usually involves the SSH key and the key of the web service you're using. For added security, the best practice is to disable password access and switch to SSH key authentication, which functions like a physical key and is much harder to guess or steal.
Costs of AI APIs and why combining them is beneficial
Returning to the Reddit analogy, one of the key lessons from the world of AI agents is that Poor API consumption design can ruin you as quickly as a bad pricing agreement for a third-party client. An autonomous assistant doesn't make a single call per order, but rather enters loops of planning, reading, analyzing, and executing, generating dozens or hundreds of internal requests to complete a single task.
If you add to that the exclusive use of high-end models, such as Claude Sonnet or OpenAI equivalents, The bill could balloon to hundreds of euros in a very short time, even with seemingly moderate use. Therefore, the recommended strategy is usually to combine different providers and models depending on the type of task.
Aggregators like OpenRouter allow access to dozens of different AI models (DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Claude, Gemini, Grok, etc.) with a single API key, adjusting latency, quality, and price. Other providers such as Google Gemini, Zhipu (GLM), DeepSeek, SiliconFlow, Fireworks AI, MiniMax, Kimi, Mistral, Groq, Cohere, Perplexity, Together AI, Hugging Face, and even platforms like AWS Bedrock or Vercel AI Gateway offer similar services. extensive catalogs with varied pricing structures, ranging from free plans with a daily limit to payments per token, mixed fees per token plus number of requests, or subscriptions by monthly quotas.
The winning idea is usually to configure a economic or free model (such as Gemini Flash, some cheap DeepSeek or free versions of OpenRouter) for routine tasks and news reading, and reserve the premium models (Claude Sonnet, latest generation GPT, etc.) for specific moments where the extra quality is really justified, such as complex programming projects or sensitive reports.
In a wizard like OpenClaw, this translates to modifying its configuration file or using the panel itself to change the base URL and API key depending on the provider you want to use at any given time. In this way, You don't get married forever to a single expensive supplier And you can adapt your agent's brain according to your needs and budget.
Connect your assistant to Telegram, WhatsApp, and other channels
Another interesting detail that affects how we interact with services, whether it's Reddit or an AI agent, is the integration with the messaging apps we use every dayIn the case of OpenClaw, once you have the server up and running, you can link it with Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, or Slack to talk to your assistant from your mobile phone as if it were just another contact.
In Telegram, the process involves using @BotFather to create a bot Once you're new, give it a name, get the token it generates, and paste it into the assistant's settings so it can send and receive messages. It's fast, free, and very flexible, making it a favorite among many advanced users.
With WhatsApp, the approach is similar to WhatsApp Web: you execute a command on the server that displays a QR code, you scan it with your mobile phone and You add the assistant as a linked device.From that moment on, the bot can respond to you or even proactively write to you according to the logic you have defined, all without needing to set up a business account or pay for an official API.
The interesting thing about this approach is that, by hosting the assistant on a VPS and linking it to multiple channels, you can have a Digital brain always on and present in your pocketbut without relying exclusively on the official applications of each platform or exposing your most sensitive personal data.
Looking at this whole picture together, a pattern is clear: while Reddit is tightening access to its API and forcing the closure of alternative clients, at the same time there is a current of advanced users moving in the opposite direction, building their own infrastructure, automating tasks with AI agents and spreading the risk among different providers and services.
The key, both for continuing to use alternative clients and for working with AI APIs, lies in Understanding the limitations of each platform, closely monitoring costs, and opting for flexible solutions that you can adapt to changes in the ecosystem without getting stuck overnight. Share this information so that other users can learn about the topic.