Pushshift alternative
ChatterAPI is not an archive. It searches live Reddit as far back as Reddit's own search goes, so it can't return deleted content or a complete history. Pushshift was the long-running open Reddit archive. Since 2023 it has served only moderators that Reddit approves, for moderation, and its terms forbid commercial use or redistribution.
What Pushshift is
- Pushshift's terms say you must be a registered Reddit user and a Reddit moderator, and you may use it only for community moderation, enforcing community guidelines and member safety. source
- The same terms forbid commercializing or redistributing Reddit data obtained through Pushshift. They also require you to follow Reddit's Developer Terms and Data API Terms. source
- Approved moderators sign in with Reddit through an OAuth flow and receive a bearer token that expires after 24 hours. source
- When Pushshift relaunched in June 2023, moderators requested access by sending modmail to r/pushshiftrequest, and Reddit said it would prioritise mods of reasonably sizable communities. source
- On Oct 14, 2026, an unauthenticated request to its submission search endpoint returned "Not authenticated". source
- In its Sept 15, 2026 note on the comment ID change, Reddit says Pushshift has updated how it ingests data and will keep working after the change. source
- In June 2026 a moderator in r/pushshift said an access request had gone a week without a reply. source
- In July 2026 Watchful1, who compiled the widely used Pushshift-era dumps, took down his Academic Torrents pages because Reddit asked him to. source
When Pushshift is the better choice
- You are a Reddit moderator and need an account's past posts and comments for moderation.
- You need content that was later deleted or removed from Reddit. ChatterAPI reads live Reddit, so it can't return that content.
- You only need access for your own communities and can wait for Reddit to approve the request.
When ChatterAPI fits
- You are not a moderator, or you need it for research, product work or anything else outside moderation.
- You need what is on Reddit now: current posts, scores and comment counts, searched across all time with Reddit's own search.
- You want a commercial API, paid per call, that you can build a product on.
- You want an AI agent to search Reddit and X through a hosted MCP server.
Side by side
| Topic | Pushshift | ChatterAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Reddit archive search for approved moderators (source) | Live Reddit and X data through one API, plus free tools |
| Platforms | Reddit (source) | Reddit and X |
| REST API | Yes, for approved moderators with a 24 hour token (source) | Yes, one key for both platforms |
| MCP server for agents | Not stated publicly | Yes, a hosted MCP server |
| Alerts and monitoring | Not stated publicly | Not offered yet. You can poll the search endpoint on a schedule |
| Data export formats | JSON from the API | JSON from the API. CSV and JSON from the dashboard playground |
| Pricing model | No price listed; access is approval based | Credits per call, from a monthly plan or top-ups. Free credits on signup |
| Setup needed | Reddit moderator account, a request approved by Reddit, then Reddit sign in (source) | Sign up and create an API key. No Reddit app needed |
| Who it suits | Reddit moderators doing moderation work (source) | Developers and teams building with code or AI agents on current Reddit data |
- Primary job
- Pushshift
- Reddit archive search for approved moderators (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Live Reddit and X data through one API, plus free tools
- Platforms
- Pushshift
- Reddit (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Reddit and X
- REST API
- Pushshift
- Yes, for approved moderators with a 24 hour token (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Yes, one key for both platforms
- MCP server for agents
- Pushshift
- Not stated publicly
- ChatterAPI
- Yes, a hosted MCP server
- Alerts and monitoring
- Pushshift
- Not stated publicly
- ChatterAPI
- Not offered yet. You can poll the search endpoint on a schedule
- Data export formats
- Pushshift
- JSON from the API
- ChatterAPI
- JSON from the API. CSV and JSON from the dashboard playground
- Pricing model
- Pushshift
- No price listed; access is approval based
- ChatterAPI
- Credits per call, from a monthly plan or top-ups. Free credits on signup
- Setup needed
- Pushshift
- Reddit moderator account, a request approved by Reddit, then Reddit sign in (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Sign up and create an API key. No Reddit app needed
- Who it suits
- Pushshift
- Reddit moderators doing moderation work (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Developers and teams building with code or AI agents on current Reddit data
Last checked . Sources: Pushshift terms and sign in page, Pushshift submission search endpoint (checked Oct 14, 2026), r/pushshift: Pushshift live again and how moderators can request access, r/redditdev: upcoming changes to the comment ID endpoint, r/pushshift: requesting access to Pushshift, r/pushshift: Watchful1 takes down his Academic Torrents pages, Reddit Data API Terms.
Moving old Pushshift code to live search
- List the Pushshift queries your code still makes and mark the ones that need deleted or historical content.
- Keep those on an archive route you're allowed to use, since we can't serve deleted content.
- Replace live keyword searches with Reddit search, with time set to all.
- Swap after and before for the time window, and page with the cursor instead of by timestamp.
curl "https://chatterapi.com/v1/reddit/search?q=your+search+terms&time=all&sort=relevance" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $CHATTERAPI_KEY"Questions
Is Pushshift still working?
Yes, for approved Reddit moderators. On Oct 14, 2026 its API asked for authentication, and in September 2026 Reddit said Pushshift will keep working after the comment ID change.
Can I get Pushshift API access if I'm not a moderator?
No. Its terms limit access to Reddit moderators using it for moderation, community guidelines and member safety.
Is the Pushshift Reddit dataset still downloadable?
Watchful1 took down his Academic Torrents pages at Reddit's request in July 2026. Reddit's Data API Terms also govern how Reddit data can be used, so check them before you use any dump.
Is ChatterAPI a Pushshift replacement?
For live search, it can be. For deleted posts or a complete archive, no. ChatterAPI searches live Reddit as far back as Reddit's own search goes.