Reddit Self-Promotion Rules: 10% Rule and 10 Subreddits

TL;DR: Reddit's sitewide rules don't ban self-promotion. They ban spam and inauthentic participation, and they hand the rest to each subreddit's moderators. The famous 10% (9:1) rule was never an enforced rule, and the subreddits founders care about range from "promotion is fine if it helps" (r/SaaS) to "permanent ban" (r/marketing).

Reddit self-promotion rules come in two layers. The sitewide layer is Rule 2 of the Reddit Rules, which today reads: participate authentically in communities where you have a personal interest, and "do not spam or engage in disruptive behaviors (including content manipulation)". Reddit's spam policy adds that if most of what you post is links to a business you run or benefit from, you should "be thoughtful about the frequency of posting". The second layer is each subreddit's own rules, where the specific limits live. The table below is that lookup.

How do 10 business subreddits treat self-promotion?

Each row quotes the rule's name as the moderators wrote it. We read each rules page from an Internet Archive capture (month in the last column); mods edit rules often, so check the live page before you post.

To read a community's current rules yourself, open either of these (swap in the subreddit name), or look the community up with our subreddit stats tool:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS/about/rules
https://old.reddit.com/r/SaaS/about/rules

What do Reddit's sitewide rules say about self-promotion?

Reddit's sitewide rules don't mention self-promotion by name; they regulate behavior. The current Reddit Rules (also called the Content Policy) put it in 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."

That wording is newer than what most guides quote. Older versions listed "spamming, vote manipulation, ban evasion, or subscriber fraud" inside Rule 2; those are still banned, but the detail now lives in Reddit Help. Rule 5 adds: "do not intentionally mislead others".

The Reddit Help spam article (updated October 22, 2026) defines spam as "repeated or unsolicited actions (whether automated or manual) that negatively affect users, communities, and/or Reddit itself". Its examples are the ones founders trip over:

• "Mass-posting repetitive content for the purpose of exposure or financial gain."
• "Sending large amounts of unsolicited chat or private messages."
• "Using tools (e.g., bots, generative AI tools) that may break Reddit or facilitate the proliferation of spam."
• "Programming a bot that continuously promotes specific products or services within a community or across many communities."

Its only guidance on promotion volume is the "be thoughtful about the frequency of posting" line. No percentage. It also says moderators "adjudicate what constitutes unwanted/spammy content in their communities", which is why the subreddit table matters more than the sitewide text.

Subreddit bans can escalate: Reddit's Disrupting Communities article lists "Being banned across several communities dealing with the same topics" as a violation. If a post vanished, start with why Reddit posts get removed.

Is the 10% rule (9:1 rule) still a Reddit rule?

No. The 10% rule was guidance, never an enforced rule, and the page that made it famous was frozen in 2019. Here is where it came from and where it survives.

The original source is Reddit's self-promotion wiki page. A June 2013 capture says "general rule of thumb is 10% or less of your links being your own site". Later versions widened it to "10% or less of your posting and conversation should link to your own content". The page also carried the line people still repeat: "It's perfectly fine to be a redditor with a website, it's not okay to be a website with a reddit account."

Between November 4 and December 2, 2019, Reddit added a banner to that page: "This page is no longer updated", pointing readers to reddithelp.com. Since 2024 the old URL redirects to the wiki of the archived r/reddit.com community, banner still in place. The Help Center spam article that replaced it contains no ratio.

The ratio survives on one page Reddit still maintains: Reddiquette, which still says "A widely used rule of thumb is the 9:1 ratio, i.e. only 1 out of every 10 of your submissions should be your own content." Reddiquette calls itself "an informal expression of the values of many Reddit users, as written by users themselves". It is etiquette, not policy.

Where the 10% rule lives

Source	What it says	Status
Self-promotion wiki	10% or less of your links	Frozen Dec 2019
Reddiquette	9:1 ratio, rule of thumb	Informal, still live
Spam policy	No number	Enforced
Reddit Rules, Rule 2	No number	Enforced

The ratio never made it into the rules Reddit enforces.

Moderators still cite it because it is easy to check by hand. r/webdev's rule 3 says: "Please refer to the Reddit 9:1 rule when considering posting self promoting materials." A mod checking your profile might do this arithmetic:

Last 30 days: 40 comments, 6 of them mention your product
6 / 40 = 15%   (above the 10% rule of thumb)

Treat 10% as a ceiling, not an allowance. r/productivity bans promotion even at 1%.

What each subreddit's rules mean in practice

Communities that allow promotion with limits

r/SaaS is the most open: "Promotion is ok here, but please don't mention your SaaS/blog/company unless it's relevant and actually helpful for someone reading. Overdoing it results in a ban." Blog posts must carry the main ideas in the post, with a link only at the end ("Originally posted here").

r/indiehackers allows one promotional post with the SHOW IH flair: "The purpose is for feedback and critique not advertisement." Posts that mention MRR need proof.

Communities that keep promotion in weekly threads

r/startups bans promotion outside its stickied threads and defines it broadly: "Self-promotion is anything you have an interest, stake or relationship with including being friends with someone at the company." Posts need at least 250 characters, and links in comments must be to "content you have no affiliation with. Affiliate links = banned."

r/Entrepreneur bans "dropping URLs, asking users to DM you, telling people to check your profile". You must "participate in the comments of other posts on this subreddit before posting yourself", and AI-generated content is not permitted.

r/smallbusiness has, since June 2026, removed product mentions that "appear directly or indirectly promotional". The exception: you can mention your business "in a relevant reply" when it fits the conversation.

Communities that ban promotion outright

r/marketing issues permanent bans for advertising, self-promotion, spam and AI-generated content. Posting and commenting are restricted to accounts over 30 days old with 300+ combined karma points.

r/ecommerce requires a 30-day-old account with 20 comment karma and 10 post karma. Self-promotion, DM requests and external links get you "banned without warning".

r/productivity extends its ban to DMs and referral codes.

Do you have to disclose that it's your product?

Yes, in the US, if you mention a product you own, work for, or earn from. The FTC's Endorsement Guides (revised in 2023) require disclosing any connection that "might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement" when the audience wouldn't expect it, and that includes "a business, family, or personal relationship" (16 CFR 255.5).

The FTC wrote an example that reads like a Reddit thread. Example 8 describes an employee of a robot maker posting on an online community's discussion board to promote the company's new product. The verdict: the poster "should clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationship to the manufacturer". Example 11 says the same for affiliate links.

The FTC's endorsement FAQ adds three details that matter on Reddit. Listing your employer on your profile page isn't enough. The phrase "affiliate link" on its own may not be understood, while "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post" is clear. If it is obvious the brand is your own, no extra disclosure is needed. Put it in the comment itself:

Full disclosure: I'm the founder of Acme, so weigh this accordingly.
I work at Acme. Here's what we see across our customers: ...
I get a commission if you buy through this link.

More on wording in our glossary entry on affiliate disclosure.

How do you promote on Reddit without breaking the rules?

You promote by answering the question someone already asked, in a community whose rules allow a mention, and by saying who you are. The order matters:

1Read the rules and pinned threads

2Answer the question first

3Disclose your connection

4Link only if the rules allow it

5Reply survives mod review

Skip step one and the other steps rarely matter.

Half the subreddits in the table route promotion to a weekly thread, so the pinned posts are part of the rules. Answer in full before your product comes up; on r/SaaS that is the line between "relevant and actually helpful" and a ban. Name the product without a link unless links are allowed, and keep your own content a small share of what you post.

The slow part is step zero: finding threads where someone is asking for what you sell, in subreddits that tolerate an answer that mentions it. BoomReddit scans Reddit around the clock for those threads, scores each one by buying intent, warns you when a subreddit's mods are strict, writes the reply in your voice, then posts it from a warmed-up account. You approve each one unless you switch to Autopilot. Links are opt-in per reply, so the default is naming the product the way a founder would in conversation. Try BoomReddit free, no card needed. For the wider plan, see our Reddit marketing strategy guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is self-promotion allowed on Reddit?

Reddit's sitewide rules allow it as long as you participate authentically and don't spam. Whether a specific post is allowed depends on the subreddit: r/SaaS allows helpful mentions, while r/marketing and r/productivity ban promotion entirely.

What is the 10% rule on Reddit?

It is a rule of thumb that no more than 10% of what you post should link to your own content. It came from Reddit's self-promotion wiki, which was frozen in 2019, and survives as the "9:1 ratio" in Reddiquette. It is not part of the rules Reddit enforces.

Can I get banned from all of Reddit for self-promotion?

Yes, if it turns into spam or disruption, such as mass-posting for exposure or getting banned across several communities on the same topic. The Reddit Rules allow temporary or permanent account suspension.

Can I post my own blog on Reddit?

Sometimes. r/SaaS wants the main ideas in the post with the link at the end. r/startups requires the full body in the post and mod approval for the link.

Do I need to disclose that I work for the company?

In the US, yes. The FTC's Endorsement Guides cover employees posting on online discussion boards, and a profile that lists your employer is not enough. r/startups goes further and counts even being friends with someone at the company as self-promotion.

Are AI-written promotional posts allowed?

Yes, where the reply is genuinely useful and follows the sub's rules, which is why the reply answers the specific comment instead of a template. A few subs still strip AI-sounding replies, so edit anything that reads stiff.