Reddit self-promotion rules: what’s allowed, where, and how to disclose
Sitewide rules vs community rules
Reddit’s sitewide rules apply everywhere. Two of them matter for self-promotion:
Rule 2. 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.
Rule 5. 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.
Rule 2 opens by pointing you to community rules. Reddit sets the floor (no spam, no manipulation, no deception) and leaves the details to each community.
Community rules are written and enforced by each community’s volunteer moderators, helped by AutoModerator, a bot that removes or holds posts matching conditions they set. They vary enormously: one business community allows relevant mentions, the next bans them outright.
There’s also Reddiquette, Reddit’s older etiquette guide. It isn’t mandatory, but some communities point to it; r/Entrepreneur notes that it “might be used in considering the intent of your post.”
Reddit enforces its own rules with anything from a polite warning to a permanent suspension, and by removing content. Moderators enforce theirs by removing posts and comments, and by banning people from their community.
The 90/10 rule, also called 9:1
The 90/10 rule says no more than about 10% of your activity on Reddit should promote your own work. It comes from Reddit’s old self-promotion guidelines. Today’s sitewide rules don’t mention a number; they prohibit spam and ask for authentic participation.
It still matters, because moderators use it as a yardstick when they look at your profile, and some communities cite it directly. r/webdev’s rules ask you to “refer to the Reddit 9:1 rule when considering posting self promoting materials.”
How to apply it:
- Count comments, not just posts. A profile of 30 comments that all mention the same product is spam, whatever your post history looks like.
- Make the 90% genuinely useful: answers, experience, specifics. “Great post!” doesn’t count.
- Apply it per community. One in ten overall but five in five in one community will get you banned there.
The six common self-promotion policies
Most community rules follow one of these patterns. The examples are quoted or summarised from each community’s posted rules. Rules change, so check the current version before you post.
| Policy | Real example | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Banned outrightNo self-promotion or business promotion anywhere in the community. | r/gamedev: “This community is not for self-promotion.” r/marketing points advertisers to Reddit’s ad platform. | Help without naming your product. Link only to genuinely useful resources, where links are allowed. |
| Designated thread onlyPromotion allowed in a weekly or monthly thread, or on one day of the week. | r/smallbusiness: the weekly promote-your-business thread. r/startups: the monthly Share Your Startup thread. r/Entrepreneur: Thank You Thursday. r/webdev: Showoff Saturday. | Post your pitch in the thread. Everywhere else, just help. |
| Relevant mentions allowedYou may mention your product when it answers the question. | r/SaaS: “don’t mention your SaaS/blog/company unless it’s relevant and actually helpful for someone reading.” | Mention it when it’s a real answer, alongside alternatives, with a disclosure. |
| Flair or format requiredPromotion allowed only with a specific flair, tag or title. | r/indiehackers: share once, with the SHOW IH flair. r/forhire: one [For Hire] post every 7 days. | Use the exact flair or format, and respect the frequency limit. |
| RatioPromotion limited to a share of your activity. | r/webdev: “refer to the Reddit 9:1 rule when considering posting self promoting materials.” | Keep promotion well under one in ten, in each community. |
| Account minimumsKarma or account age required before you can post. | r/Entrepreneur: 10 comment karma in the community. r/selfpromotion: 20 karma and an account at least 7 days old. | Comment helpfully first. Post later. |
On top of these, most communities have link rules. r/marketing removes any post or comment with a URL shortener. r/SaaS and r/startups want blog content in the post itself, and r/startups allows a link to the original only with the moderators’ approval.
What counts as self-promotion (more than you’d think)
Everyone knows a sales post is promotion. These catch people out:
- Asking for feedback. “Roast my landing page” is promotion in most business communities. r/SaaS and r/startups send feedback requests to a weekly thread, r/webdev to Showoff Saturday, and r/marketing asks you not to request reviews of your website or product at all.
- Your content. Blog posts, newsletters, videos and podcasts count. r/smallbusiness bans blog links and blog content, apart from relevant links in comments; r/startups and r/SaaS want the substance in the post itself.
- Products you’re tied to. Your employer’s, your client’s, a friend’s. r/startups counts “being friends with someone at the company.”
- Affiliate and referral links. r/forhire bans them outright, and r/selfpromotion says affiliate links “aren’t content.”
How to read a sidebar in two minutes
- Open the rules. On desktop they’re in the sidebar; in the app, they’re in the community’s About tab. Expand each one: the short titles hide the details.
- Scan for the words that matter: promotion, self-promotion, advertising, spam, links, blog, feedback, thread, flair, karma, account age, DM, AI.
- Check the pinned posts. Weekly threads, “read before posting” notes and rule changes usually sit at the top.
- Open the wiki, if there is one. Longer rules, FAQs and banned topics live there.
- Start a post without submitting it. The post form shows required flair and any title or body requirements the moderators have set.
- Look at what survives. Sort by Top for the past month. How do the most upvoted comments mention products, if they do at all?
If a rule is ambiguous, ask the moderators through modmail before you post. A polite one-line question beats guessing. Inside Hubbub, each community page summarises the rules with a self-promotion verdict, so you can see the pattern before you comment.
How disclosure works
Disclosure means saying, in the comment itself, that you have a stake in what you mention. It keeps you on the right side of Rule 5, and many communities define promotion to include any connection at all. r/startups counts anything you “have an interest, stake or relationship with including being friends with someone at the company.”
Good disclosure is:
- In the same comment, close to the mention.
- Plain: “I’m the founder”, “I work there”, “they’re a client of mine”.
- Short. One line, no apology.
Examples that work:
- “Disclosure: I built this.”
- “(I work at X, so weigh this accordingly.)”
- “Full disclosure: X is a client of mine.”
What doesn’t count: a note in your profile, a username that happens to match the brand, or “I’ve heard good things about X” when X is yours.
Disclosure doesn’t override a ban. If a community bans self-promotion, a disclosed promotion is still a promotion. Separately, in the US the FTC’s Endorsement Guides expect a clear disclosure of material connections, such as owning or working for the company whose product you recommend.
What happens when you break them
- Removal. The most common outcome, often automatic and often silent: you still see your post, other people don’t. In the week of 21–27 Sep 2026, 40–66% of new posts in r/webdev, r/startups, r/SaaS and r/smallbusiness were removed or held within about 20 seconds of going up; our Reddit marketing guide has the numbers.
- A warning. Some moderators message you first. Take it seriously.
- A community ban, temporary or permanent. You can appeal politely through modmail. Don’t create a new account to get around it: ban evasion breaks Reddit’s sitewide rules.
- Action against your account. For spam across communities, Reddit can restrict or suspend accounts, temporarily or permanently, and spam accounts can end up shadowbanned, with everything they post hidden from other people.
To see where you stand, open the thread or your profile in a private, logged-out window. If your comment or profile doesn’t show up there, something has been removed or restricted.
Checklist before you mention your product
- I’ve read this community’s rules, pinned posts and wiki.
- Promotion is allowed here, in this kind of comment or post, not only in a weekly thread.
- Someone asked for a recommendation, or my product directly answers their question.
- My comment is still useful with my product taken out.
- I’ve named alternatives where they fit.
- I’ve disclosed my connection in the same comment.
- There’s no link, or links are allowed here and mine is a full URL, not a shortener.
- This text isn’t copied from another comment.
- Fewer than one in ten of my recent comments here mention my product.
- I’m not asking anyone to DM me.
Keep reading
Questions
Is self-promotion allowed on Reddit?+
Reddit’s sitewide rules don’t ban it outright; they ban spam, content manipulation and misleading people. Whether you can promote is up to each community: some ban it, some allow it only in a weekly thread, and some allow relevant, disclosed mentions.
What is the 90/10 rule on Reddit?+
A guideline from Reddit’s old self-promotion rules: keep promotion of your own work to about 10% of your activity, and make the other 90% ordinary, useful participation. It’s also called the 9:1 rule. Reddit’s current sitewide rules don’t set a number, but many moderators still use it.
Can I post a link to my own website on Reddit?+
Only where the community allows it. Many ban links in posts, remove URL shorteners, or want the full content in the post instead of a link. Where links are allowed, use a full URL, make sure it’s relevant, and disclose that it’s yours.
How do I know if my Reddit post was removed?+
Open it in a private, logged-out window. If it’s missing there but visible when you’re logged in, it was removed or is waiting for moderator approval.
Do I have to say I work for the company I’m recommending?+
Yes. Reddit’s rules prohibit misleading people, many communities count any connection as self-promotion, and in the US the FTC expects material connections to be disclosed. One line is enough: “Disclosure: I work there.”