Relay was my go to app also, something about the flow of the app UI always appealed to me more than any other apps. So much so, I continued using it even after I found the paid app included trackers (these can be blocked with Warden, a rare app scanner you can find on github).

However even if I wanted to stay on reddit I don't think I'd pay a monthly subscription.

Reddit really should be paying users, not the other way around. They steal our data for free and seek to profit from it.