Automate Reddit with IFTTT: Subreddit booster without an API

Reddit is called the front page of the internet for a reason. With over 100,000 active communities covering everything from AI to world politics to sourdough bread, there’s genuinely something for everyone on this app. The problem clearly isn’t about finding what you like; it’s more about keeping up with it without spending half your day refreshing feeds.

There is hope, and with some smart automation, you can completely revolutionize the way that you use Reddit. This guide covers a practical solution using IFTTT to turn Reddit into a live data source that feeds directly into your real workflow. Just picture this: new posts get delivered to your email, Slack, Telegram, Google Sheets, or any of 1,000+ other tools, automatically, the moment they’re published.

IFTTT handles this through Reddit’s built in RSS feeds, with no API key or any developer setup of any kind. If this sounds like your kind of thing, keep reading to see exactly how to get it set up in just a couple minutes.

Why automate Reddit?

The harsh reality is that manually checking subreddits is fine until it isn’t. Sure, it might be fun once in a while, but once you’re tracking more than a handful of communities for work or research, it easily becomes unmanageable.

It happens to the best of us. Important posts get buried under junk, threads you wanted to follow go cold, and opportunities to respond to things that matter pass you by.

Additionally, in 2023, Reddit dramatically raised API pricing, which made lots of popular third-party tools and apps inaccessible for Reddit users. If you were using one of those tools, you might have noticed a complete drop-off in service suddenly.

IFTTT plays by a different set of rules. Our integration uses RSS feeds, not an API through Reddit. It’s public, free, and bundled up in a neat, ready-to-use package for IFTTT users.

IFTTT’s Reddit automation is a good fit for:

• Developers checking a subreddit for bug reports or questions about their product

• Marketers tracking brand mentions or discussions in relevant communities

• Researchers building a custom news feed on a specific topic

• News followers who want top posts from r/worldnews, r/technology, or r/science delivered to their inbox

• Community managers watching for trending posts or high-engagement threads

What you can do with IFTTT and Reddit

Reddit is one of IFTTT’s oldest and most extensive integrations, and the two make quite the pair. From building custom email digests to fitting Reddit into your spreadsheet workflow, there are almost infinite possibilities. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the most popular use cases for Reddit and IFTTT.

Send new Reddit posts to your email

With these Applets, your inbox becomes a curated Reddit digest without you doing anything. Simply set up an Applet that monitors a subreddit and sends you an email when a new top post hits. You can filter by subreddit, keyword, or post type so you’re only getting the posts that actually matter to your work.

Get Reddit alerts in Slack or Telegram

For teams tracking brand mentions or key conversations, our Applets can funnel this data directly to where you need it. When a new post matching your keyword appears in a subreddit you’re watching, IFTTT can send a message directly to Slack or Telegram.

This is particularly useful for developers or similar roles, where a bug report or feature request in a subreddit deserves a fast response.

Log Reddit posts to Google Sheets

With IFTTT, researchers, journalists, or just everyday hobbyists can build a running dataset from any subreddit without manual exports. Each row has the post title, URL, author, and timestamp organized and ready.

Build a custom Reddit RSS feed

RSS feeds are an excellent way to collect loads of information and boil it down to what you really need to see. IFTTT can help you build a Reddit RSS feed that connects any subreddit to any RSS reader you already use. You can also funnel RSS feed posts to a subreddit just as easily. If you’ve got a news aggregator or workflow tool that accepts RSS as an input, Reddit becomes another source you can wire into it. Our full guide on RSS feeds walks through exactly how to set this up.

Never miss a Reddit AMA

r/AMA, or an “Ask Me Anything” is a popular thread type, and the format even has its own dedicated format. As the name suggests, interesting people open up for questions. But AMAs move fast, and the best questions and answers happen in the first hour. An IFTTT Applet watching r/AMA can alert you via email, Slack, or push notification the moment a new AMA is posted, so you’re there right when it pops off.

How to set up Reddit Automation with IFTTT

The beauty of IFTTT is that to get automating, you don’t need an API key or developer account. Here’s the full easy setup:

1.) Create a free IFTTT account at ifttt.com or log in if you already have one

2.) Use the explore tab to search for pre-built Applets, or continue to build your own

3.) Click “Create” and select your trigger service. Search for Reddit

4.) Choose your trigger, like “New post in subreddit”

5.) Enter the subreddit name (for example, r/MachineLearning or r/personalfinance)

6.) Choose your action service. This can be email, Slack, Telegram, Google Sheets, Notion, or whichever tool fits your workflow

7.) Customize the Applet however you see fit. Advanced users can add things like time delay or filter code.

8.) Turn it on! The Applet runs automatically from that point forward

If you need a little more help, we totally understand. Check out our full setup guide here. Once you get the hang of it, the whole process takes under two minutes. Try it out now for free!

Is IFTTT safe to use with Reddit?

Users often keep personal information on Reddit, and wonder how privacy works with a system like IFTTT. The answer is that IFTTT keeps your data very secure, and the reason comes down to how IFTTT connects to Reddit in the first place. For read-only automations like monitoring a subreddit, IFTTT reads Reddit’s public RSS feeds. It does not log into your Reddit account, act as a Reddit client, or touch Reddit’s API.

IFTTT has been operating since 2010 and has more than 25 million users. Our platform is built around connecting public services while giving users complete transparency and control over how their data is processed. IFTTT never sells or shares your data to any third party beyond what is required to execute your automations.

More ready-to-use Reddit Applets

Here are some more community-built Reddit automations you can activate in one click:

Connect Reddit to your workflow with IFTTT

For power-users all over the globe, Reddit is only one part of a much bigger picture. Connecting the social platform to tools like email, Slack, and Sheets gives you ultimate flexibility in how you read, sort, and share posts. Reddit posts can flow into Trello cards for task tracking, Notion databases for research organization, or a webhook for any custom destination your team uses.

This is what separates IFTTT from other automation platforms. With over 1000+ integrations, IFTTT can send Reddit content wherever you already work, automatically, with no manual effort. The best part? Getting started is completely free, so you can build up your first automations without any commitment. But something tells us you’ll come to love the way our platform changes your daily Reddit workflow.

Other recommended services

The beauty of IFTTT is that we integrate with over 1000 apps and services, from big players like Google and Claude to more niche platforms so that you can be fully covered. Below are a couple of suggestions of similar services that you may like! Click on any of the bubbles to get started.

FAQ

Does IFTTT work with private subreddits?

Unfortunately, no. IFTTT’s Reddit integration uses public RSS feeds, which are only available for public subreddits. Private communities don’t publish RSS feeds, so they can’t be monitored through IFTTT.

Do I need a Reddit account to use IFTTT with Reddit?

Not neccessarily. For read-only automations monitoring posts, tracking keywords, and logging to Google Sheets, IFTTT reads public RSS feeds and doesn’t require a Reddit login at any point.

Is IFTTT free for Reddit automation?

Yes. IFTTT’s free tier includes access to two single-step Applets, which covers most common use cases. Pro plans unlock multi-step Applets and a higher Applet limit for more complex workflows.

What happened to Reddit third-party apps in 2023?

In mid-2023, Reddit introduced new API pricing that made it too pricey for most third-party developers to continue operating. Many popular apps like Apollo, Reddit is Fun, and others shut down as a result. Because IFTTT uses RSS feeds rather than the Reddit API, our Reddit automations were unaffected by these changes and continue to work exactly as they always have.