Self-host Reddit – 2.38B posts, works offline, yours forever
Reddit's API is effectively dead for archival. Third-party apps are gone. Reddit has threatened to cut off access to the Pushshift dataset multiple times. But 3.28TB of Reddit history exists as a torrent right now, and I built a tool to turn it into something you can browse on your own hardware. The key point: This doesn't touch Reddit's servers. Ever. Download the Pushshift dataset, run my tool locally, get a fully browsable archive. Works on an air-gapped machine. Works on a Raspberry Pi serving your LAN. Works on a USB drive you hand to someone. What it does: Takes compressed data dumps…
In plain words
This tool converts archived Reddit data dumps into a locally browsable archive that runs entirely offline on personal hardware. Users download the Pushshift dataset and run the tool to generate static HTML files searchable without internet access or external services. It works on air-gapped machines, Raspberry Pi servers, or USB drives, and includes an optional Docker stack with PostgreSQL for enhanced search capabilities. Designed for archivists, researchers, and users wanting independent access to Reddit history without relying on the platform's API.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Reddit's API is effectively dead for archival. Third-party apps are gone. Reddit has threatened to cut off access to the Pushshift dataset multiple times. But 3.28TB of Reddit history exists as a torrent right now, and I built a tool to turn it into something you can browse on your own hardware. The key point: This doesn't touch Reddit's servers. Ever. Download the Pushshift dataset, run my tool locally, get a fully browsable archive. Works on an air-gapped machine. Works on a Raspberry Pi serving your LAN. Works on a USB drive you hand to someone. What it does: Takes compressed data dumps from Reddit (.zst), Voat (SQL), and Ruqqus (.7z) and generates static HTML. No JavaScript, no external requests, no tracking. Open index.html and browse. Want search? Run the optional Docker stack with PostgreSQL – still entirely on your machine. API & AI Integration: Full REST API with 30+ endpoints – posts, comments, users, subreddits, full-text search, aggregations. Also ships with an MCP server (29 tools) so you can query your archive directly from AI tools. Self-hosting options: - USB drive / local folder (just open the HTML files) - Home server on your LAN - Tor hidden service (2 commands, no port forwarding needed) - VPS with HTTPS - GitHub Pages for small archives Why this matters: Once you have the data, you own it. No API keys, no rate limits, no ToS changes can take it away. Scale: Tens of millions of posts per instance. PostgreSQL backend keeps memory constant regardless of dataset size. For the full 2.38B post dataset, run multiple instances by topic. How I built it: Python, PostgreSQL, Jinja2 templates, Docker. Used Claude Code throughout as an experiment in AI-assisted development. Learned that the workflow is "trust but verify" – it accelerates the boring parts but you still own the architecture. Live demo: https://online-archives.github.io/redd-archiver-example/ GitHub: https://github.com/19-84/redd-archiver (Public Domain) Pushshift torrent: https://academictorrents.com/details/1614740ac8c94505e4ecb9d...
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