“Reddit is a platform where anonymity fosters both honesty and toxicity in equal measure.” – Edward Snowden.  

Have you ever scrolled through a never-ending feed of hilarious memes, mind-blowing facts, or passionate discussions on a niche topic? We’ve all been there, lost in the delightful rabbit hole that is Reddit. What if you could create that experience much better though? Yes, you can develop an app like Reddit!            

Reddit isn’t just a social media platform; it’s a network of passionate communities – subreddits – where people connect, share knowledge, and have a good laugh along the way. Reddit was predicted to have slightly more than 1 billion monthly active users in 2023—a rise of more than 11% from the year before.      

However, Reddit app development is attracting investment from a variety of businesses thanks to its massive popularity. If you are also someone who wants to develop an app like Reddit and take your business to new heights, then read this blog till the end. 

This guide will break down the steps to develop an app like Reddit, its features, costs transforming your vision into a vibrant virtual space.   

So, let’s begin.    

Quick Summary: Are you looking to develop an app like Reddit? If yes, this blog will work as a guide for you. Read this blog to know everything about the Reddit app development steps, essential features, costs, maintenance cost and other aspects.

 

What Is A Reddit App?

Reddit is a mobile app that offers forums for debate, reviews, and news aggregation. It consists of a collection of groups where users may speak in-depth about their passions, interests, and hobbies.  

However, there are certain parts of this material that are NSFW (not safe for work) and should only be seen by adults. Any user may start a subreddit, which is a community on the website with various interests. Teens may often locate forums where they can talk about their favorite pastimes or video games.   

Additionally, they may locate broader groups such as r/mademesmile, where members exchange material in an effort to convey joy. So, if you have an idea to develop an app like Reddit, then you must take assistance from a mobile app development company. 

 

Reddit: Market Statistics & Scenarios!! 

• A little more than 1.6 percent of social media website traffic in the US was attributed to Reddit in August 2023. 
• Reddit.com’s online forum had 48.46 percent of its visitors from the United States in the six months that ended in December 2023. Second place went to the United Kingdom, which accounted for 7.16 percent of all websites like Reddit visitors to the social media network. 
• Industry insiders said in February 2024 that Reddit and the massive search engine operator had reached a $60 million license agreement. 

 

Source: Statista 

• Reddit was predicted to have slightly more than 1 billion monthly active users in 2023—a rise of more than 11% from the year before.  
• Reddit is on the lower end of the social media company category, with an estimated $6.5 billion in value and $804 million in sales in 2023.
• In 2023, Reddit had 70 million daily active users, a 13 million increase from the year before.

 

Source: Statistia 

• Spending fifteen minutes and fifty seconds a day on Reddit.
• In 2020, there were 303.4 million posts posted.     

 

How Does A Reddit App Work?

Do you want to know how the Reddit app operates? Well, the working mechanism of an Android or iOS Reddit app is described below by the social media app development company. So, let’s have a look at them:     

 

 

1. Sign Up or Log In

To get started, users download the Reddit app from their app store and create an account or log in if they already have one. Users may sign up using the email address or through third-party platforms like Google or Apple. 

 

2. Explore Subreddits

Once they’re logged in, users can start exploring communities called subreddits. These are dedicated to specific topics, hobbies, or interests. Users can search for subreddits by name or browse through popular ones recommended by the app. 

 

3. Discover Content

The topic-related posts will be in a feed in each subreddit. Users may scroll through these posts to view images, articles, videos, and discussions shared by other users. 

 

4. Engage with Content

If users find something interesting, they can upvote it to show your appreciation or downvote it if they disagree. They may also leave comments to join the discussion or save posts to revisit later. 

 

5. Submit Your Own Content

Want to share something with the community? They may create their own posts by clicking on the “Create Post” button. Users can share links, images, text, or videos on the basis of the subreddit’s rules.  

 

6. Customize Your Experience

Reddit lets users personalize their feed. Users can subscribe to their favorite subreddits, join discussions, and even customize their profile with a bio and avatar.    

 

 

How To Develop An App Like Reddit?

Now you must be wondering how to develop an app like Reddit? Well, it can be quite a complex task especially if you are a newbie to create an app like Reddit as it needs a lot of expertise. But with the right assistance of an entertainment mobile app development services provider, you may conveniently create an app like reddit. Below are the step-by-step process of Reddit app development:  

 

• Validate Your App Idea 
• Create a Reddit Feature List 
• Designing the User Interface 
• Building the Backend Infrastructure
• Creating the Frontend Structure 
• Test Your Reddit Clone App
• Launch and Market Your App

 

 

1. Validate Your App Idea 

A spark of idea is the start of every great app. Discuss your app idea concepts with your iOS or Android app development company and think about what makes Reddit like an app special. It has a community-centered strategy, a lot of distinct content, and a user-friendly interface. 

You should think about how you might alter these ideas to make something new and interesting. For example, you might want to focus on a certain area or add new features to keep users interested. Now is the perfect time to draw your app’s main idea and take your business to the next level.   

 

2. Create a Reddit Feature List 

What makes Reddit great is its active group of users who talk, share information, and vote on postings. So, either you take help from a social network development company or you can yourself add features that promote participation in the community, like subreddits, user profiles, voting systems, and comments systems if you have expertise. 

So as to monitor user-generated material and to uphold social norms, consider implementing moderation features when you create a reddit alternative clone. The feeling of individuality and community can also be improved by personalizing the space with features like user flair and themes.  

 

3. Designing the User Interface 

After your idea is clear, it’s time to use design to make it a reality. The whole point of UX design is to give your user an experience that is easy to understand and works well. First, the Android or iPhone app development team makes an outline of the app’s plan and how to use it. 

Before you design a visually stunning interface, think about how users will engage with its many components. You can take help from a social media app development services provider who can work on components like fonts, color schemes, and icons to make sure that the app looks good and is easy to use.  

 

4. Building the Backend Infrastructure

A strong backend system stores data, verifies users, and sends information to users. To make your app work well and grow as needed, pick a suitable tech stack. The entertainment app development company will set up servers, databases, and APIs so that features like registering users, putting content, and comment threads can work.

When you build Reddit app with NextJS, you must prioritize security above everything else and secure user information by putting encryption and login systems in effect. 

 

5. Creating the Frontend Structure 

Now that the backend is set up, we can work on the frontend part. This is where the hybrid mobile app development Reddit team develops the user UI that will allow users to engage visually and bring your ideas to life.

To make sure that navigation goes smoothly and apps load quickly, pay close attention to speed optimization. You should assure that your reddit-like app works on multiple platforms and screen sizes by testing it on them. 

 

 

6. Test Your Reddit Clone App

A crucial stage in the entertainment app development of an app is testing, which frequently decides its success. To identify and address any errors, breaks down, or usability issues, take help from a software testing services provider to carefully evaluate the app. 

To obtain substantial insights into how real users interact with your app, add a feedback system in it. With this feedback, you can keep looping and enhancing your app to make users happier and performance better.  

 

7. Launch and Market Your App

You’ve made it to the last stage, which is to release your app to the public. Create a strong marketing plan to get people to discuss your brand and bring them on board. After the app goes live, keep an eye on how happy and involved users are with it, and be ready to make modifications and additions to keep it viable and relevant. 

 

Must-have Features To Include In An App Like Reddit

Now that you know the steps to develop an app like Reddit, let’s jump to the features section. Building an app like Reddit requires careful consideration of its key features and functionalities. So, below are the important features to consider when you build a reddit clone without code:  

 

 

1. User Registration 

Your app must allow users to securely register using phone numbers, social network accounts, or email ID. To secure user privacy, you must provide strong authentication procedures.    

 

2. Voting and Rating System

You must hire dedicated developers to implement a voting system similar to Reddit’s upvoting and downvoting mechanism. Let users rate content to find out how visible it is and how popular it is in the community.   

 

3. Content Submission

When you build entertainment app like Reddit, enable users to share different kinds of content, like text posts, links, pictures, and videos. It facilitates an amazing interface for content creation and submission.    

 

4. Community Creation 

Let users make subreddits according to their hobbies and join them. It provides tools for community moderators to manage content, enforce rules, and maintain community guidelines.    

 

5. Multimedia Support

With the help of a social network development services provider, integrate a multiple support feature in your Reddit clone app. Support various media types, including images, GIFs, videos, and external links. You can find this multimedia support feature in a similar app like Instagram.    

 

6. Feed and Content Discovery

Design a personalized feed algorithm that displays relevant content based on user preferences, subscribed communities, and trending topics. You can also include features like sorting by hot, new, and top posts in Reddit copycat apps. 

 

7. User Profiles 

Create user profiles that showcase their activity, submitted content, comments, and a measure of their contributions and engagement within the platform. You can also include options for profile customization and privacy settings.   

 

 

8. Messaging and Notifications 

Users should be able to deliver private messages to others and to be notified of new comments, replies, mentions, and group updates. With the help of a messaging app development company, integrate push notification features in your reddit copycat apps to interact with people in real time.   

 

9. Search Functionality

Develop a powerful search engine that allows users to find specific content, communities, or users quickly. Include filters for sorting search results by relevance, recency, and popularity. 

 

10. Content Moderation Tools 

This feature is similar to an app like Twitter which also provides moderators with tools to enforce community rules, remove spam, and manage user-generated content effectively. When you build a community app like Reddit, include features like content flagging, reporting, and automated moderation.  

 

11. Reddit Gold and Awards

Reddit Gold, now known as Reddit Premium, is a premium membership that offers various benefits. It introduced a system of awards, such as Silver, Gold, and Platinum, allowing users to reward exceptional posts or comments. These awards can provide recognition and motivation to content creators and encourage active participation within the community.  

 

12. Commenting and Discussion Threads

Allow users to engage in discussions by commenting on posts and participating in threaded conversations. You should hire mobile app developers to implement features like thread comments and markdown support for formatting.   

 

Top 5 Social Media Apps Like Reddit 

If you are planning to develop an app like Reddit, it is essential to be well-known about the competitor apps or apps similar to Reddit. As per the social media app development services provider, below are the tabular format showcases the best social media apps like Reddit. 

 

Apps Like Reddit	Available Platform	Downloads	Ratings
Instagram	Android | iOS	5B	4.0
Twitter	Android | iOS	1B	3.8
Tumblr	Android | iOS	100M	4.1
Discord	Android | iOS	100M	3.1
Quora	Android | iOS	50M	4.5

 

How Much Does Reddit App Development Cost? 

Right now, you apparently want to learn about the cost to develop an app like Reddit. Well, the Reddit mobile app development cost can generally vary depending on how complex your project is. Also it keeps on fluctuating with time and technology.    

Basically, the cost to build an app like Reddit can lie between $10000-$30000 or can exceed. Let’s check out the table showcasing the Reddit social media app development cost:     

 

App Complexity	Cost Estimation
Simple Reddit App	$10000-$15000
Medium Reddit App	$16000-$22000
Complex Reddit App	$30000+

 

These are just the rough estimation of cost to develop an app like Reddit, it is better to take assistance from an on demand app development company to know the actual cost. However, you can also measure the Reddit mobile app development cost by leveraging the below formula: 

Total Reddit App Development Cost = Hourly Rate Of Developers * Total Development Time

Now that you are proficient with the cost and formula to measure the cost to build an app like Reddit, let’s now move to the next section. 

 

 

What Is the Maintenance Cost Of An App Like Reddit?

Are your Reddit like apps outdated or not working properly? Then it’s time for the maintenance. But wait, how much does it cost to maintain an app like Reddit? Well, it can cost you between 15-20% of the initial cost to develop an app like Reddit. 

 For instance, if your cost to build a Reddit clone with no-code is $10000, then you are about to pay $1000-$5000 annually on its maintenance. Additionally, it is vital to know that the maintenance cost can be affected by factors like security, new feature enhancement, complexity, bug-fixes.   

You need to avail app maintenance services for the entertainment industry for smooth performance. Below is the table depicting the cost to maintain reddit copycat apps:   

 

App Maintenance Type	Cost(approx.)
Hosting Charges	$35 to $120 Per Month
Bug Fixing and Updates	$1000 to $2000
Functional Services	$2000 Per Year
API Integration	$3000 Per Year
IT Support	$1000-$5000 per hour

 

Thus, if you are planning to update your old Reddit-like app with new feature enhancements, it is recommended to consult with a mobile app maintenance services provider. It optimizes functionality and enhances app speed, it is a worthwhile investment.          

 

Ready To Develop An App Like Reddit With Our Expertise?

By now, you should have enough understanding about the Reddit app development, its functionality, and the features you need to include in order to develop an app like Reddit. Now the next question is how to make an app like Reddit needs to be addressed. 

Thus, if you want to build an app like Reddit, you should team up with a reputable entertainment app development company like Dev Technosys. You can rely on us as your reliable tech partner to bring your groundbreaking ideas to life. 

So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us and let’s together make a robust Reddit-like app that can take your business to greater heights!  

 

FAQ About the Reddit App Development!

 

Q1. How Long Does It Take To Develop An App Like Reddit?

The time to develop an app like Reddit is not fixed, it keeps on varying depending on your project complexity and other factors like app developer Reddit. 

When you build a Reddit clone app with minimal functions, it can take around 2-4 months while a complex iOS or Android app development Reddit may take longer. It is best to talk to a social network development company for superior outcomes to create the best reddit app alternatives.    

 

Q2. How Much Does It Cost To Develop An App Like Reddit?

The cost to develop an app like Reddit may vary on the basis of factors and complexity of your project. For example, if you create a forum like Reddit with less features, it can cost you between $10,000-$15,000.  

However, if you go with the complex Reddit clone app development, it can increase the cost up to $30,000. To know the actual cost estimation to develop an app like Reddit, you should take assistance from a social media app development company.   

 

Q3. What Are the Benefits Of Creating An App Like Reddit?

When you build a Reddit clone app or a social media platform like Meetup for your business, you may get many advantages that are mentioned below:   

• Huge user base 
• User-generated content 
• Brand awareness 
• Data insights 
• Community building

 

Q4. How To Monetize An App Like Reddit?  

There are many monetization methods you can utilize for your reddit clone app by which you can make money. So let’s have a look at them: 

• In-app purchase
• Freemium model 
• In-app advertisement 
• Affiliate marketing 
• Subscription model 
• Collaboration with creators     

 

Q5. What Are the Best Alternatives To Reddit in 2024? 

There are various Reddit like apps in the market but we have listed the best Reddit alternatives in 2024: 

• Lemmy
• Discord  
• Quora 
• Steemit 
• SaidIt.net