It seems to me like they could pass this cost to users instead of developers and just have API access an option on some subscription tier. Then allow third party apps to auth with users credentials. And then everyone would be happy? Maybe.
Yes, I've no doubt they know this and have opted for the "more control" route. They seem to fully expect to weather the storm and be able to do whatever they want with the API and anything else.
I guess it remains to be seen if that is true, but unlike Twitter and Mastodon, where I didn't think Mastodon was a good alternative, I actually could see https://kbin.social being a good alternative for reddit.
The longer this protest goes on the more the alternatives will grow and be viable. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
