Reddit Insights

Reddit Insights

Semantic search across millions of Reddit posts. Unlike keyword search, this understands intent and meaning.

Powered by reddapi.dev — AI-powered semantic search and vector similarity across 1000+ subreddits with millions of indexed posts, updated continuously.

Key Advantage:

Setup

Get API Key

Environment Variable

export REDDAPI_API_KEY="your_api_key"

Rate Limits

| Plan | Monthly API Calls | Per Minute | |------|-------------------|------------| | Lite | 500 | 50 | | Starter | 5,000 | 50 | | Pro | 15,000 | 100 | | Enterprise | Unlimited | 1,000 |

HTTP API Reference

Base URL: https://reddapi.dev

Authentication: All requests require header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

POST /api/v1/search/semantic

AI-powered semantic search with keyword extraction, vector search, and AI summary generation.

curl -X POST "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/semantic" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "What do developers think about Rust vs Go for backend services?", "limit": 20}'

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | query | string | Yes | Natural language question | | limit | number | No | Results to return (default: 20, max: 100) |

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "query": "What do developers think about Rust vs Go for backend services?",
    "results": [
      {
        "id": "1abc234",
        "title": "Switched our microservices from Go to Rust - here's what happened",
        "content": "After 6 months of running Go in production...",
        "subreddit": "rust",
        "upvotes": 847,
        "comments": 234,
        "created": "2026-02-15T10:30:00.000Z",
        "relevance": 0.92,
        "sentiment": "Discussion",
        "url": "https://reddit.com/r/rust/comments/1abc234"
      }
    ],
    "total": 20,
    "processing_time_ms": 12450,
    "ai_summary": "Developers are divided on Rust vs Go for backend services..."
  }
}

POST /api/v1/search/vector

Fast vector similarity search. No LLM processing, returns results in seconds.

curl -X POST "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/vector" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "best productivity apps for ADHD", "limit": 30, "start_date": "2026-01-01", "end_date": "2026-03-18"}'

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | query | string | Yes | Search query | | limit | number | No | Results to return (default: 30, max: 30) | | start_date | string | No | Start date filter (YYYY-MM-DD) | | end_date | string | No | End date filter (YYYY-MM-DD) |

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "query": "best productivity apps for ADHD",
    "results": [
      {
        "id": "2def567",
        "title": "Finally found an app that works for my ADHD brain",
        "content": "I've tried everything from Todoist to Notion...",
        "subreddit": "ADHD",
        "upvotes": 1203,
        "comments": 456,
        "created": "2026-03-01T14:22:00.000Z",
        "similarity_score": 0.89,
        "url": "https://reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/2def567"
      }
    ],
    "total": 30,
    "processing_time_ms": 3200
  }
}

GET /api/v1/subreddits

List available subreddits with metadata, sorted by subscribers.

curl "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/subreddits?search=programming&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | search | string | No | Filter by name/title/description | | page | number | No | Page number (default: 1) | | limit | number | No | Results per page (default: 50, max: 100) | | sort | string | No | Sort by "subscribers" or "created" (default: subscribers) | | order | string | No | "asc" or "desc" (default: desc) |

GET /api/v1/subreddits/{name}

Get detailed information about a specific subreddit with recent posts.

curl "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/subreddits/webdev" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | name | string | Yes | Subreddit name without r/ prefix |

POST /api/v1/trends

Get trending topics from Reddit based on post engagement.

curl -X POST "https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/trends" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"start_date": "2026-03-11", "end_date": "2026-03-18", "limit": 20}'

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | start_date | string | No | Start date (default: today) | | end_date | string | No | End date (default: today) | | limit | number | No | Topics to return (default: 20, max: 100) |

MCP Server

reddapi.dev also provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for direct integration with AI clients.

Endpoint: https://reddapi.dev/api/mcp Protocol: MCP Streamable HTTP Transport

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reddit-search-api": {
      "transport": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "https://reddapi.dev/api/mcp",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP tools: reddit_semantic_search, reddit_vector_search, reddit_list_subreddits, reddit_get_subreddit, reddit_get_trends

Choosing Between Semantic and Vector Search

| Use Case | Recommended | Why | |----------|-------------|-----| | Exploratory research | Semantic | LLM extracts keywords, generates summary | | Known-topic monitoring | Vector | Faster, direct matching, no LLM overhead | | Batch processing | Vector | 5x faster per request | | Answering complex questions | Semantic | AI summary synthesizes insights | | Real-time dashboards | Vector | Low latency (~5s vs ~20s) |

Best Use Cases (Tested)

| Use Case | Effectiveness | Why | |----------|--------------|-----| | Product comparisons (A vs B) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Reddit loves debates | | Tool/app recommendations | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | High-intent discussions | | Side hustle/money topics | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Engaged communities | | Pain point discovery | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Emotional posts rank well | | Health questions | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Active health subreddits | | Technical how-to | ⭐⭐⭐ | Better to search specific subreddits | | Abstract market research | ⭐⭐ | Too vague for semantic search | | Non-English queries | ⭐ | Reddit is English-dominant |

Query Strategies

✅ Excellent Queries (relevance 0.70+)

Product Comparisons (best results!):

"Notion vs Obsidian for note taking which one should I use"
→ Relevance: 0.72-0.81 | Found: Detailed comparison discussions, user experiences
"why I switched from Salesforce to HubSpot honest experience"  
→ Relevance: 0.70-0.73 | Found: Migration stories, feature comparisons

Side Hustle/Money Topics:

"side hustle ideas that actually make money not scams"
→ Relevance: 0.70-0.77 | Found: Real experiences, specific suggestions

✅ Good Queries (relevance 0.60-0.69)

Pain Point Discovery:

"I hate my current CRM it is so frustrating"
→ Relevance: 0.60-0.64 | Found: Specific CRM complaints, feature wishlists

Tool Evaluation:

"AI tools that actually save time not just hype"
→ Relevance: 0.64-0.65 | Found: Real productivity gains, tool recommendations

❌ Weak Queries (avoid these patterns)

Too Abstract: "business opportunity growth potential" → 0.52-0.58 Non-English: "学习编程最好的方法" → 0.45-0.51

Query Formula Cheat Sheet

| Goal | Pattern | Relevance | |------|---------|-----------| | Compare products | "[A] vs [B] which should I use" | 0.70-0.81 | | Find switchers | "why I switched from [A] to [B]" | 0.70-0.73 | | Money/hustle topics | "[topic] that actually [works/makes money] not [scam/hype]" | 0.70-0.77 | | App recommendations | "[category] apps which one is [accurate/best] and why" | 0.67-0.72 | | Pain points | "I hate my current [tool] it is so [frustrating/slow]" | 0.60-0.64 | | Solutions seeking | "[problem] tried everything what actually works" | 0.60-0.63 |

Example Workflows

Market Research:

curl -X POST https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/semantic \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "frustrated with project management tools switching from Jira", "limit": 50}'

Brand Monitoring (fast):

curl -X POST https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/vector \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "your-brand-name reviews complaints", "limit": 30}'

Deep Research (combine both): 1. Vector search first to quickly scope the landscape 2. Semantic search for deep analysis on specific angles

Time-Filtered Sentiment Tracking:

curl -X POST https://reddapi.dev/api/v1/search/vector \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "ChatGPT quality", "start_date": "2026-01-01", "end_date": "2026-03-18"}'

Tips

1. Natural language works best - Ask questions like a human would 2. Include context - "for small business" or "as a developer" improves results 3. Combine emotion words - "frustrated", "love", "hate", "wish" find stronger opinions 4. Filter by engagement - High upvotes/comments = validated pain points 5. Use vector search for speed - ~5s vs ~20s for semantic 6. Use date filters - Track sentiment changes over time periods

Error Handling

All endpoints return consistent error responses:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Error description",
  "message": {
    "title": "Human-readable title",
    "message": "Detailed explanation",
    "cta": "Suggested action",
    "ctaLink": "/pricing"
  }
}

Common status codes: 400 (invalid params), 401 (bad API key), 403 (plan limit), 429 (rate limit), 500 (server error)

Get API Key

Environment Variable

export REDDAPI_API_KEY="your_api_key"

Rate Limits

| Plan | Monthly API Calls | Per Minute | |------|-------------------|------------| | Lite | 500 | 50 | | Starter | 5,000 | 50 | | Pro | 15,000 | 100 | | Enterprise | Unlimited | 1,000 |

1. Natural language works best - Ask questions like a human would 2. Include context - "for small business" or "as a developer" improves results 3. Combine emotion words - "frustrated", "love", "hate", "wish" find stronger opinions 4. Filter by engagement - High upvotes/comments = validated pain points 5. Use vector search for speed - ~5s vs ~20s for semantic 6. Use date filters - Track sentiment changes over time periods