Comment karma
Also called: comment_karma, comment points
Definition
Comment karma is the part of your Reddit karma earned from votes on your comments. It can go negative, down to a floor of -100, and many subreddits check it before letting new accounts comment or post.
Comment karma is the karma you earn from comments. Every upvote on a reply you write nudges it up; every downvote nudges it down. It sits next to post karma on your profile, and together they make your total.
How it works
- Votes on your comments change it, roughly. Reddit says upvotes and karma "don't have a 1:1 relationship."
- It can go negative. Reddit's AutoModerator documentation says comment karma "will not go below -100," so -100 is the floor.
- Moderators can check sitewide comment karma (comment_karma), comment karma earned in their own subreddit (comment_subreddit_karma), or combined totals.
- You can see your comment karma on your profile: hover over total karma on desktop, or open the About tab in the app.
Why it matters for marketers
For most business and founder accounts, comment karma is the realistic path to an account that works. Posts compete with everything in a subreddit; comments only compete within a thread. A specific, early answer in a thread with 30 comments can collect real upvotes in an afternoon.
It is also what a lot of karma requirements check, because moderators want proof that an account has participated in conversations, not just dropped links. An account with a few hundred comment karma, earned across the communities it posts in, gets through most filters and reads as a real person to anyone who clicks the username.
The comments that earn karma are the same ones that sell: they answer the question first, add something the thread lacks, and mention a product only when it is the honest answer. That is the value-first reply pattern.
Example
A thread asks how to stop a Shopify store's abandoned-cart emails from landing in spam. Two comments arrive within the hour:
- "Check out [tool], it fixes this." Downvoted to -3.
- A reply that walks through SPF, DKIM and DMARC setup, names the specific Shopify setting that causes the issue, and mentions at the end that the commenter's own tool monitors this (affiliation stated). Upvoted to 40.
Same product mention. The second one earned comment karma and probably a customer.
Common mistakes
- Generic praise comments ("Great post!") to farm karma. They get ignored or downvoted, and mass low-effort commenting is the kind of pattern spam filters notice.
- Arguing in threads. A heated exchange can cost more karma than a week of good answers earns.
- Earning karma only in meme subreddits when the communities you care about check subreddit-specific karma.
For more, see how to get karma on Reddit, or look up an account with the Reddit karma checker.
Frequently asked questions
Is comment karma or post karma more important?
It depends on what each subreddit checks. Comment karma is usually easier to build and is what many communities check before allowing comments; posting rules often check post karma or combined karma.
How low can comment karma go?
-100. Reddit's AutoModerator documentation sets that as the floor.
Why didn't my comment karma go up after an upvote?
Karma is an approximate reflection of votes, not a 1:1 count, and displayed numbers can lag. A single upvote may not move it.