# Reddit RSS feed not working? Fixes for 429, 403 and login redirects

> Most broken Reddit feeds come down to rate limits, a blocked client or an old.reddit link. Here is how to tell which, and when an alert is the better fix.

URL: https://claudegpt.si/news/reddit-rss-feed-not-working-429-fix  
Published: 2026-11-04T14:41:21.369Z  
Author: ClaudeGPT Si Newsroom  
Section: Guides  
Topics: Reddit, RSS, Troubleshooting  
Publisher: ClaudeGPT Si

## Key takeaways

- In tests on November 4, 2026, Reddit answered 13 of 14 feed requests sent seconds apart with HTTP 429, and the same feeds worked a minute apart.
- A request with curl's default user agent got a 403 page, and old.reddit.com feeds now redirect to a login page.
- AyeWatch watches a subreddit, search or user and alerts only on posts matching a rule, though it gives no RSS output and skips comments.

When a Reddit RSS feed is not working, the cause is usually one of four things: Reddit is rate limiting your reader with HTTP 429, it is refusing the client with a 403, the link points at old.reddit.com, or the address is slightly wrong. Each has a fix you can check in a minute. If you keep fighting the feed only to get pinged about a few posts, [AyeWatch](https://ayewatch.ai/reddit) can watch the same subreddit or search and alert you instead.

Everything below comes from our own curl tests against reddit.com on November 4, 2026.

## Match the error to the fix

| What you see | Likely cause | What to try |
| --- | --- | --- |
| HTTP 429 Too Many Requests | Too many requests in a short time | Check less often, and spread feeds out |
| HTTP 403 with an HTML page | Reddit does not like the client | Use a reader that sends a normal user agent, or a different network |
| Redirect to a login page | The feed is on old.reddit.com | Change the host to www.reddit.com |
| A feed with very few items | A top feed with no time range | Add `?t=week` or switch to `/new/.rss` |
| Posts missing between checks | Only 25 items per feed | Add `?limit=100` or check more often |

## The 429 problem

This is the big one. We requested 14 feeds about three seconds apart: the first came back fine and the next 13 got 429. A minute later, the same feeds worked one at a time. Reddit's responses carry `x-ratelimit-remaining` and `x-ratelimit-reset` headers, so you can watch the budget yourself by printing the headers with `curl -D -`.

Readers that run on shared cloud servers have it worst, because many users' requests come from the same addresses. If your self-hosted reader polls 40 subreddits every five minutes, expect errors. Fewer feeds and longer intervals help. So does merging subreddits into one feed with a plus sign, as in `/r/NAME1+NAME2/new/.rss`, which costs one request instead of two.

## The 403 problem

A request with curl's default user agent got a 403 error page, while the same address with a browser-style user agent returned the feed. Many feed readers let you set the user agent. If yours does not, try another reader before deciding the feed is dead.

## Old Reddit and the login wall

Any feed starting with old.reddit.com now redirects to a login page. Swap the host to www.reddit.com and the same path works.

There is a bigger change coming. On October 29, 2026, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman wrote that Reddit will become a primarily logged-in experience and will test it first in some markets outside the U.S. His post did not mention RSS. Nobody outside the company can say yet whether feeds will survive, so do not build anything important on them without a backup plan.

## Check the address

Small typos break feeds quietly. These formats worked in our tests:

- `https://www.reddit.com/r/NAME/new/.rss` for a subreddit
- `https://www.reddit.com/search.rss?q=QUERY&sort=new` for a search
- `https://www.reddit.com/user/NAME/submitted/.rss` for a user's posts

The `/u/` shorthand and the bare `reddit.com` host both answered with redirects, which some readers do not follow.

## When to stop fixing the feed

If the reason you use the feed is to catch posts about your product, a bug report, or a question in your niche, a reader full of noise is the wrong tool even when it works. AyeWatch watches a subreddit, a Reddit search, a search inside one subreddit, or a user, and you write a plain-English rule for what counts. AI reads each new post and you get an alert only for the matches, in the AyeWatch feed, as push on your phone, and on paid plans in Slack, Discord, email or a webhook. It has a free preview, and paid plans start at $9 a month.

It is not a drop-in replacement: AyeWatch has no RSS output and does not read comments. If you need every post as XML, fix the feed with the table above and keep it.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why does my Reddit RSS feed say 429?

Reddit is rate limiting your reader. Check less often, request fewer feeds at once, or merge subreddits into one feed with a plus sign.

### Are Reddit RSS feeds being shut down?

Not as of November 2026. Reddit announced a move to a mostly logged-in experience on October 29, 2026, without mentioning RSS, so their future is unclear.

### Do old.reddit.com RSS feeds still work?

No. In our November 2026 test they redirected to a login page. The same path on www.reddit.com worked.

## Sources

- [AyeWatch for Reddit monitoring](https://ayewatch.ai/reddit), AyeWatch
- [About that login screen](https://www.reddit.com/r/u_spez/comments/1xiupm0/about_that_login_screen/), Reddit
- [Reddit RSS feeds: URLs for subreddits, searches and users](https://ayewatch.ai/blog/reddit-rss-feed), AyeWatch