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Why the Subreddit Widget Stopped Updating
November 12, 2026

Why the Subreddit Widget Stopped Updating

On September 30, Reddit announced that it is ending support for RSS feeds on November 13, 2026. Our Subreddit widget was built on those feeds, so once they are gone, it can no longer load new posts. We have retired the widget, and this post explains what that means if you have one on your dashboard.

#What Reddit Changed

Every subreddit used to publish an RSS feed - a simple, public list of its latest posts that any app could read. Reddit says these feeds became a common route for large-scale scraping and automated abuse, so it is turning them off. Its public API is closing too: new access requests stopped on October 31, and the remaining public endpoints shut down in March 2027.

Reddit has said there is no replacement for RSS feeds outside of communities you moderate. That leaves no reliable, public way for a start page to show the latest posts from a subreddit, so we are not going to try to work around it.

#What Happens to Your Subreddit Widget

  • It stays on your dashboard. We do not delete anything you added. The widget keeps the posts it already loaded, and clicking one still opens the discussion on Reddit.
  • It stops showing new posts. After November 13, the feed has nothing new to fetch, so the list will not change.
  • You cannot add a new one. The Subreddit widget is no longer in the Add Widget window, on the demo, or in the dashboards we set up for new accounts.

When you are ready, remove the widget from its menu like any other. If you are on the free plan, that also frees up one of your 8 widget slots.

#What to Use Instead

There is no drop-in replacement for subreddit posts, but a few widgets cover the same habit of checking in on a community:

  • Hacker News - the front page, newest, best, Ask HN, and Show HN, if your subreddits were mostly about tech.
  • RSS Feed - the blogs, news sites, and forums you follow. Many communities outside Reddit still publish RSS. The free plan offers a curated list of feeds, and premium plans take any feed URL.
  • Substack and YouTube Channel - for writers and creators you found through Reddit.
  • Links - bookmark your favorite subreddits so they are still one click away.
  • Search - switch the engine to Reddit to search it straight from your new tab.

#Questions

If something on your dashboard looks off after this change, or you want help picking a replacement, email us at hello@startpagehq.com.