Reddit Plans to Require Login Even for Reading Posts

Ads, AI and search traffic

According to Huffman, logged-in users visit more often and give Reddit more information for ad targeting. Knowing which posts a person engages with makes it easier to serve relevant ads. Reddit also says that requiring login would make it easier to see who is using the site, which helps in dealing with AI scraping of its large archive of user-generated content.

Search is another factor. Huffman said search-referred traffic fell by more than 1 million visits per week on average in October 2026. If that trend continues, daily unique active users, currently about 130 million, could decline by a low-teens percentage in the fourth quarter. Reddit appears to want to be a daily destination rather than a place people land on from a Google search.

A gradual tightening

The step follows earlier moves. Since early 2026, Reddit has tested prompts pushing some mobile web users toward its official app, and in July it made the legacy Old Reddit design require login.

The business itself is healthy: third-quarter 2026 revenue rose 53% year over year and net income grew 74%. Even so, the company wants a closer, more direct relationship with its audience.

For casual readers who use Reddit to gauge opinion around the world without an account, the change could reduce how often they visit, or push them to become full users. The scope and timing of a global rollout will depend on the results of the upcoming tests.