Reddit rules guide, updated September 2026
Reddit's self-promotion rules come from two layers. Sitewide, Reddit Rule 2 asks you to participate authentically where you have a personal interest and not to spam, and Reddit's Spam policy says accounts whose contributions are mostly links to their own business should post less often or use self-serve ads. Inside each subreddit, the moderators decide how much promotion, if any, is allowed.
The famous 10% rule is older guidance, not a current sitewide rule. Reddit's current Spam policy sets no percentage, though Reddit's advice to moderators says some communities still choose to follow a 10% rule. This guide quotes the six official policies word for word, then shows how to promote inside them.
0%
The percentage Reddit's current sitewide Spam policy sets. The 10% figure survives as a choice some mod teams make.
2 layers
Sitewide rules enforced by Reddit admins, plus community rules enforced by each subreddit's moderators.
54%
Share of admin removals of posts and comments that were for spam in July to December 2025.
Spam share source: Reddit Transparency Report, July to December 2025.
Primary sources
Every quote below was copied from Reddit's own pages in September 2026. If a guide quotes something you cannot find on these pages, it is outdated.
Sitewide, every account
“Abide by community rules. Participate authentically in communities where you have a personal interest, and do not spam or engage in disruptive behaviors (including content manipulation) that interfere with Reddit communities.”
What it means for you
Two things at once: follow each subreddit's own rules, and only take part where you have a real interest. Reddit clarified the wording of Rule 2 in October 2025, according to its H2 2025 Transparency Report.
Sitewide, every account
“Be authentic. You don't have to use your real name, but do not intentionally mislead others or impersonate an individual or entity in a deceptive manner.”
What it means for you
Posing as a happy customer of your own product, or seeding fake recommendations, is the kind of deception this rule targets.
Sitewide, enforced by admins
“If your contributions to Reddit consist primarily of links to a business that you run, own, or otherwise benefit from, please be thoughtful about the frequency of posting, or consider advertising opportunities using our self-serve platform.”
What it means for you
This is the closest thing to an official self-promotion rule. No percentage, but a clear signal: an account that mostly links to its own business should slow down or buy ads.
Advice Reddit gives to mod teams
“On Reddit, promotional content is not inherently considered to be spam. That said, some communities do have strict policies that disallow any kind of promotional content. Other communities abide by the 10% rule.”
What it means for you
This is where the 10% rule lives today: as one option a mod team can choose. Reddit ends the passage by leaving the decision to each team.
Sitewide, enforced by admins
“Do not manipulate votes, evade enforcement, or otherwise disrupt Reddit communities.”
What it means for you
Covers the tactics promoters reach for when organic reach is slow: extra accounts, voting groups, and getting banned from several communities about the same topic.
Optional disclosure feature
“Brand Affiliate tags are available for redditors who need to identify their posts or comments as incentivized or having commercial intent.”
What it means for you
Reddit gives you a built-in way to disclose a commercial relationship, and reminds you that legal disclosure duties are yours.
One document you will often see quoted is the User Agreement. It does not contain a separate self-promotion clause. It incorporates the Reddit Rules by reference and, in its promotions section, makes you alone responsible for any contest or sweepstakes you run.
The number everyone quotes
Short answer: not sitewide. Here is where the number came from and where it still applies.
Reddit's older self-promotion guidance suggested that roughly one in ten of your posts or comments could link to your own work. That line was widely copied into marketing guides and subreddit rules, which is why it still feels official.
The current Spam policy sets no percentage. Reddit's guidance for moderators describes the 10% rule as something some communities abide by, and leaves the choice to each mod team.
| Claim you will read online | What Reddit's pages say in 2026 |
|---|---|
| "Reddit officially limits promotion to 10%" | Not in the sitewide Spam policy. Some communities choose a 10% rule. |
| "Promotional content is spam" | Reddit's mod guidance says promotional content is not inherently spam. |
| "Mods cannot remove promotion that follows 10%" | Moderators adjudicate what is unwanted or spammy in their own communities, per the Spam policy. |
| "Paying for ads is the only official option" | The Spam policy points heavy link posters to self-serve ads as one option, alongside posting less often. |
Want the ratio math in detail? Our page on the Reddit 90/10 rule breaks down how moderators apply it when they read your history.
Know the line
Self-promotion is broader than sales pitches. Anything that drives attention or revenue to something you own or benefit from falls under it.
Reddit's moderator guidance also lists specific spam patterns worth memorizing: repeatedly posting the same or similar comments, link-farmed or off-topic content, link redirects used to get around a domain block or disguise a link's source, and bots built to promote products.
From founders who promote on Reddit
Three founders who posted about Reddit promotion and bans on X, in their own words.
"Reddit has insane potential for founders. But most posts get removed. Most accounts get banned. Most strategies are guesswork. I've been using @mediafa_st to plan posts, find the right communities, and avoid bans."
"haha i've tried reddit a few times and always got banned or just nowhere productive. only a few days in with mediafast but no bans! (knock on wood)"
"I was suspended multiple times, but now with MediaFast i finally got on a right path! I used it for my CookFast SaaS."
Market on Reddit without the bans
The policies above are easy to read and hard to follow every day. MediaFast checks each post against Reddit and subreddit rules before you publish. Or our team posts for you.
Not sure which one fits? Compare every plan side by side further down this page.
Who enforces it
Two layers act on promotional posts: Reddit's own systems and each community's moderators. Most promotion is stopped by the second one.
Sitewide, Reddit rate-limits how often new or low-karma accounts can post in a community ("You're doing that too much") and runs spam detection behind the scenes. Spam dominates this layer: 54% of admin removals of posts and comments in H2 2025 were for spam.
Admins can also act on the account itself with warnings, 3-day and 7-day bans, or permanent bans. If that happens, our guide to a Reddit temp ban explains what you can still do.
Moderators handle the most removals. In H2 2025, mod removals were 40.7% of all content removed on Reddit, and 68.6% of those were done by automated tools such as AutoModerator. Many teams also switch on the reputation filter, informed by the Contributor Quality Score (karma, verification and other account signals).
For a rough read on how your account looks to that system, try the free Contributor Quality Score checker before you post anything promotional.
Removal and moderator figures: Reddit Transparency Report, July to December 2025.
Practical rules
Six habits that keep promotional posts up, and six that get them removed. Each one maps back to a policy above.
Lead with value
Write posts that teach something useful even if the reader never visits your site. If the post only makes sense as a pitch, rewrite it.
Participate before you mention anything
Build a genuine comment history in the communities you plan to post in. Mods look at your history, and trust filters such as Crowd Control are built per community.
Disclose your affiliation
If you built it or work there, say so in the first lines. Reddit's Brand Affiliate tag exists for exactly this.
Make the product mention optional
The best promotional posts still work with the link removed. The value should stand on its own.
Stay in the thread
Answer every question after you post. A promoter who disappears after dropping a link looks like the spam pattern moderators remove.
Use the promo thread when there is one
Many business communities funnel promotion into a weekly thread. Posting there instead of the main feed is the rule, not a nice-to-have.
Post only about your product
Reddit's Spam policy calls out contributions that consist primarily of links to your own business.
Paste the same content everywhere
Repeatedly posting the same or similar comments in a thread, community or across communities is on Reddit's list of spam behaviors.
Use extra accounts to boost yourself
Multiple accounts or voting services used to move vote counts are vote manipulation under Disrupting Communities.
Pretend to be a customer
Fake testimonials break Rule 5 (be authentic) and destroy trust when they get spotted.
Ignore the subreddit's rules
Rule 2 makes community rules part of Reddit's own rules. A no-promo community means no promo.
Repost what a mod removed
Reposting a removed post is the fastest way from a removal to a community ban. Ask in modmail instead.
Before you post
You do not need to memorize every community. Most promotion rules fall into one of four patterns. Identify the pattern from the sidebar and pinned posts first.
| Type | How to recognize it | What is allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Builder-friendly | Communities that exist so people can share what they made. | Promotion is the point. Still lead with context and expect blunt feedback. The audience is mostly other builders. |
| Thread-gated | Business and marketing communities with a pinned weekly or daily promo thread. | Promotion is allowed only inside that thread. A great post in the main feed still gets removed. |
| Value-gated | Communities whose rules say promotional posts must add substantial value or follow a ratio. | A story, lesson or tutorial with a single disclosed mention can pass. Link-only posts do not. |
| Zero promotion | Many large general-interest communities and most support communities. | No promotion at all, whatever the quality or disclosure. Participate as a regular user or not at all. |
Subreddit rules change often, so always read the live sidebar before posting and message the mods when unsure. For community-by-community detail, see which subreddits allow self-promotion, and for how mods react to a first offense, read will Reddit mods ban me for self-promotion.
Transparency
Reddit does not force one disclosure format, but it gives you a tool for it and puts the legal duty on you.
Reddit lets you mark individual posts or comments as a Brand Affiliate when they are incentivized or have commercial intent, for example when a brand has a relationship with you that requires disclosure. Reddit adds that you are responsible for complying with all laws, including required disclosures.
In the United States, the FTC's endorsement guidance covers material connections between a speaker and a brand, such as ownership, employment, payment or free products. Other countries have their own rules. When in doubt, disclose clearly and close to the mention.
You built the product
"Full disclosure, I built this. Sharing because it solves a version of the problem in this thread, feel free to poke holes in it."
You work at the company
"Disclosure: I work at [Company]. Not trying to pitch, I just think this applies to what you are describing."
You are listing your own tool among others
"A few tools handle this: [Competitor A], [Competitor B], and one I built called [Your Product]. Happy to compare tradeoffs."
You were paid or given something
Turn on the Brand Affiliate tag for that post or comment and say plainly what you received. Check the disclosure rules that apply where you live.
Contests and giveaways
Giving away free access or prizes is a popular promo tactic. Reddit has a dedicated guideline for it, and most guides skip it.
Source: Reddit Help, Running promotions on Reddit. Reddit also says it generally does not assist with promotions run by users, and each community's own rules on giveaways still apply.
Self-check
The line between helpful sharing and spam is simpler than it looks. Run every promotional post through these.
Delete every mention of your product. If what remains is still useful and someone would upvote it, you are fine. If the post collapses, it is an ad dressed as content.
Imagine a stranger posted it. Would you upvote it or reply? If it only has value because you made the product, it needs more substance.
Open your last 20 posts and comments in that community. If product mentions stand out, you are promoting too hard for most mod teams. Spend a while contributing without any mention.
Playbook
The best time to prepare for promotion is weeks before you need it. Follow these in order.
A brand name as a username makes every comment read as marketing. A personal handle lets your contributions be judged on their own merit.
Answer questions and join discussions in your target communities before any promotion. This builds the history moderators check.
Reddit's help center says even a small amount of karma earned by commenting in a community helps you get past its posting rate limit.
Recommend useful tools and articles you did not make. It shows you share value, not just your own links.
The safest first mention answers someone asking for exactly what you offer. Finding those threads is where research tools pay off.
If you run Reddit marketing for a business, MediaFast helps with the research side: finding the communities your buyers read, checking their rules, and drafting posts written for each one. Timing matters too, since a promotional post that sits flat gets read more harshly, and our Reddit posting-time data report breaks it down by day and hour.
Watch
A practical look at how one marketing agency promotes on Reddit while staying inside community rules.
Video: "How I Generate Leads on Reddit (Without Getting Banned)" by EC Marketing Agency, published December 9, 2025.
Read the originals
Everything on this page traces back to a document Reddit publishes. Check them yourself before you post.
Reddit Rules
The eight sitewide rules. Rule 2 (community rules, no spam) and Rule 5 (be authentic) matter most for promotion.
Read the Reddit RulesSpam policy
Reddit's definition of spam and its guidance for accounts that mostly share links to their own business.
Read Reddit HelpAlready in trouble? Keep this page for the rules, then use our Reddit ban prevention guide to see how enforcement escalates, or how to appeal a Reddit ban if a ban has already landed.
Weekly Reddit growth tips, rule changes worth knowing, and our posting-time data. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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Straight answers on what Reddit allows, what the 10% rule really is, and how to promote without breaking community rules.
Sitewide, Reddit Rule 2 asks you to participate authentically in communities where you have a personal interest and not to spam. Reddit's Spam policy says that if your contributions are mostly links to a business you run, own or benefit from, you should be thoughtful about how often you post, or use Reddit's self-serve ads. On top of that, every subreddit sets its own promotion rules, and moderators decide what counts as unwanted or spammy content in their community.
No. The 10% figure comes from Reddit's older self-promotion guidance. Reddit's current Spam policy does not set a percentage. Reddit's moderator help article on keeping spam out of a community still mentions that some communities choose to follow a 10% rule (only 10% of your posting and comment history in that community is self-promotional), so treat it as a benchmark individual mod teams may use, not a sitewide law.
Reddit sets no sitewide percentage. The safe working answer is to keep promotion a small minority of your activity in each community, and many moderators still use 10% as their mental benchmark when they check your history. If a community bans promotion completely, the answer there is zero.
Yes, if the comment helps the person asking and the community allows it. A comment that would still be useful with the product mention removed is generally accepted. A comment that exists only to drop a link, or the same comment pasted into many threads, falls under what Reddit's moderator guidance lists as spam: repeatedly posting the same or similar comments in a thread, community or across communities.
Reddit offers a Brand Affiliate tag for posts and comments that are incentivized or have commercial intent, and its help center says you are responsible for any disclosures the law requires. In the US, the FTC's endorsement guidance covers material connections such as owning or being paid by a company. Beyond the legal side, a plain "I built this" line is also what most moderators expect.
Usually the post is removed first. Repeat breaks in one community tend to end in a ban from that community, set by its moderators. Spam is also a violation of Reddit's sitewide rules, which Reddit can enforce with warnings, 3-day and 7-day bans and permanent bans. Being banned across several communities that deal with the same topic is itself listed as community disruption in Reddit's policy.
Yes, within Reddit's promotions guidelines. You must publish official rules, require participants to release Reddit from liability, state that the promotion is not sponsored by or associated with Reddit, never target minors or support communities, and never run a lottery (purchase plus random draw) without Reddit's explicit permission. The subreddit's own rules still apply.
Yes. Some communities exist so builders can share their projects, and many business communities run a weekly promotion thread. Their audiences are often other builders rather than buyers, so they are a starting point, not a whole strategy. Our list of which subreddits allow self-promotion compares the rules of 21 communities.
Reddit's policy says moderators adjudicate what constitutes unwanted or spammy content in their own communities. In practice they look at your history in that community, whether you engage in the comments, and whether the post helps readers without the link. Many also switch on the reputation filter, which is informed by Reddit's Contributor Quality Score and uses karma, verification and other account signals.
You can, but the same rules apply to them, and the risk lands on your brand. Paying for posts or comments that do not disclose the relationship runs into both Reddit's authenticity rule (Rule 5, do not intentionally mislead others) and, in the US, FTC disclosure rules. Using multiple accounts or paid voting to boost the content is vote manipulation under Reddit's Disrupting Communities policy.
MediaFast finds the communities your buyers read, checks what each one allows, and drafts posts written for that community, so your promotion fits the rules on this page.
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