You’re looking for a list of all subreddits. I get it. You want the master directory, the "Yellow Pages" of the internet's most chaotic corners. Maybe you're a data scientist trying to scrape sentiment, or maybe you're just bored and want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
But here’s the reality: there isn't a single, official, live list that captures everything.
Reddit grows way too fast. While you read this sentence, three people probably just created subreddits dedicated to specific types of moss or hyper-niche mechanical keyboard switches. Estimates suggest there are over 3.4 million subreddits. However, the vast majority—think 90% plus—are "dead" or set to private. If you actually found a list of all subreddits in a single text file, it would be hundreds of megabytes of mostly useless data. It’s a ghost town with a few bright city centers.
Why a Static List Doesn't Work
The API is the gatekeeper. Back in the day, you could use tools like Pushshift.io to grab almost everything. Then came the 2023 API changes. Reddit locked the doors. Now, if you want a list of all subreddits, you have to work for it. Most third-party "all-in-one" directories are snapshots. They are memories of what Reddit looked like six months ago.
The platform is essentially an iceberg. You see the r/funny, r/gaming, and r/news stuff on the surface. But underneath? There are layers of private communities (r/lounge), restricted professional circles, and "archived" subs that haven't seen a post since the Obama administration.
Honestly, even Reddit's own native search is famously bad at surfacing these. If the creators of the site can't give you a perfect list, a random website promising a "Complete 2026 CSV" is probably lying to you or selling you outdated scrapings.
The Best Ways to Explore the Subreddit Universe
Since a single list is a myth, you have to use discovery engines.
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- Subredditstats.com: This is arguably the gold standard for seeing what's actually active. It ranks communities by growth, comments per day, and subscriber count. It’s better than a "full list" because it filters out the garbage.
- RedditMetrics: (When it's actually working) it provides a historical look at how communities have trended.
- The r/ListOfSubreddits Wiki: This is a human-curated effort. It’s not "all" of them, but it’s the best categorized version you’ll find. They group things by "General," "Images," "Discussion," and "Niche." It feels like a library.
Most people don't actually want a list of three million names. They want to find their "tribe." If you are a fan of 90s Japanese station wagons, a list of all subreddits doesn't help you unless it's searchable and categorized.
The Weird, The Wild, and The Restricted
The sheer scale of the list of all subreddits includes things that would make your head spin. There are "meta" subreddits like r/TheoryOfReddit where people analyze the site’s sociology. There are "counting" subreddits where people literally just post the next number in sequence. r/counting is currently in the millions. Why? Nobody knows. It's just Reddit.
Then you have the restricted stuff. You can't just join a "Top 500 All Time Karma" subreddit. You have to be invited. These private nodes are part of the total count but are invisible to the average scrapper. This is why "total subreddit counts" are often debated. Are we counting empty shells? Or only "active" ones with more than five posts?
The Pushshift Era vs. Now
Jason Baumgartner, the mind behind Pushshift, provided the world with the closest thing we ever had to a total map. Researchers used this data to study everything from radicalization to how memes spread. When Reddit started charging massive fees for API access, that map went dark for many. Now, if you want to generate a list of all subreddits, you basically have to be a developer with deep pockets or a very clever crawler script that respects rate limits.
How to Effectively Find New Communities
Forget the master list for a second. If you want to find where the conversation is happening right now, use the "Related Communities" sidebar on the redesign. It uses an embedding algorithm—basically, it looks at where else people who post in r/woodworking also hang out (spoiler: it’s often r/tools).
- Use the r/findareddit community. It’s a human-powered search engine. You describe what you’re looking for, and "Reddit Sherpas" point you to the right place.
- Check the default subreddits. These are the ones every new account used to be subscribed to automatically. They represent the "broad" list of all subreddits that define the site's public face.
- Use Boolean Google Searches. Type
site:reddit.com "keyword"to find communities Google has indexed. Google is often better at searching Reddit than Reddit is.
Actionable Steps for Discovery
If you’re serious about mapping out the Reddit landscape or finding your specific niche, stop looking for a single document. Instead, follow this workflow:
- Audit your interests: Use r/findareddit to locate the "seed" community for your niche.
- Check the Wiki: Most major subreddits have a "Related Subs" section in their sidebar or Wiki. This is how you find the high-quality spin-offs.
- Use Third-Party Dashboards: Sites like https://www.google.com/search?q=ReidditList.com (with two 'i's) show you the top 5,000 communities. For 99% of users, the top 5,000 is effectively the "entirety" of the useful Reddit world.
- Track the "New": Monitor r/newsubreddits to see what's being born in real-time. It's mostly spam, but occasionally you find a gem before it goes viral.
The list of all subreddits is a living, breathing, and occasionally dying organism. It is not a static file. To navigate it, you need to use tools that prioritize activity over raw numbers. Focus on the subreddits with high "active users" counts rather than raw subscriber numbers, as the latter is often inflated by dead accounts.
Start with the curated directories and branch out. The "real" Reddit isn't found in a massive CSV file; it's found in the sidebar links of a community you already love. Find one, and the rest of the map starts to reveal itself.