10% rule
Also called: 10 percent rule, 9:1 rule, 90/10 rule, reddit 10% rule
Definition
The 10% rule is a Reddit guideline that no more than 10% of your posts and comments in a community should promote something you own or benefit from. The other 90% should be genuine participation. Reddiquette states a similar 9:1 ratio.
The 10% rule is the most quoted number in Reddit marketing, and it is often described wrong. It is not a sitewide rule enforced by Reddit's admins. It is a guideline that many subreddits adopt for self-promotion, and Reddit's own help center describes it as one option moderators can choose.
Where it comes from
Two Reddit sources state it today.
Reddit's moderator help center. In its page on keeping spam out of a community, Reddit says some communities ban promotion entirely, while others follow the 10% rule: at most 10% of a person's post and comment history in that community can be self-promotional, and the other 90% should be helpful, organic content unrelated to their own interest. Reddit leaves the choice to each mod team.
[Reddiquette](/glossary/reddiquette/). The community-written etiquette guide says you can post links to your own content "within reason," and calls the 9:1 ratio "a widely used rule of thumb": only 1 of every 10 submissions should be your own content.
Reddit's sitewide spam policy does not set a number. It asks people whose contributions are mostly links to their own business to "be thoughtful about the frequency of posting."
How to read it
A few details matter more than the number:
- It is per community. Reddit's wording refers to your history "in the community." Being helpful in r/AskHistorians does not earn you promotion credit in a SaaS subreddit.
- Comments count. The rule covers posts and comments, not just submissions.
- "Organic" means unrelated to your interest. Reddit says the 90% should have nothing to do with your own interest. Ten comments that each hint at your product are not 90% organic.
- It is a ceiling, not an allowance. Communities that use it still remove promotion that is irrelevant or spammy, such as link spam.
- Some subreddits are stricter. Many ban promotion outright or limit it to a weekly thread. Check the subreddit rules first.
Why it matters for marketers
The 10% rule is a reasonable guardrail even where a subreddit does not mention it. It forces the behavior that works anyway: be a regular in the communities where your buyers are, answer questions that have nothing to do with you, and save product mentions for threads where someone is asking for exactly what you sell.
It also explains a common ban. A founder makes a few genuine comments, then posts their product in every relevant thread for a week. By count, their history in that community is now mostly promotion. Mods look at the history, not the latest comment.
The self-promotion rules guide lists how common subreddits apply it.
Example
Over a month in a marketing subreddit, a founder writes 27 comments: answers about cold email deliverability, a critique of someone's landing page, a few jokes in the weekly thread. On 3 occasions, someone asks for a tool in their category and they mention their product with a disclosure. That is 3 of 30, right at 10%, and the 27 other comments are visibly useful.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 10% rule an official Reddit rule?
It is not a sitewide rule. Reddit's help center describes it as a policy some communities choose, and Reddiquette suggests a 9:1 ratio as a rule of thumb. Individual subreddits decide whether to enforce it.
Does the 10% rule count comments or just posts?
Reddit's help center describes it as applying to both your post and comment history in the community, so comments count.
What is the 9:1 rule on Reddit?
It is Reddiquette's version of the same idea: only about 1 out of every 10 of your submissions should be your own content.