Is Reddit's 10% self‑promotion rule still a rule?
Not sitewide. Reddit stopped enforcing it in 2017. The rules that matter now are each community's own, and in the places buyers post, 1 in 3 bans self-promotion outright.
Two sets of rules. The stricter one wins.
Reddit sets a floor for the whole site. Each community can build on top of it, and most do.
The spam policy. No ratio, no number. It targets repeated, unsolicited promotion and accounts that mostly post links to their own business.
Its written rules, enforced by its moderators and bots. This is where a 10% rule, a weekly thread or a total ban lives.
Source: Reddit Help: Spam, updated October 2026.
Reddit dropped the ratio. Some communities kept it.
Where buyers post, 1 in 3 bans it.
We read the self-promotion rules of the 138 communities where 1,921 potential buyers posted, and sorted each one by hand.
r/startups r/sales r/freelancing r/smallbusinessr/Entrepreneur r/gtmengineeringr/SaaS r/microsaas r/indiehackersOnly a general "no spam" or nothingHow we counted
- Communities
- The 138 subreddits, with readable rules, where 1,921 posts fit one business (helping companies find customers), July 30 to October 24, 2026
- Sorting
- Each community's self-promotion rule, read and sorted by hand. "Thread only" means promotion is allowed only in a weekly, monthly or pinned thread.
- Ratios
- Every rule in 3,537 rulebooks naming a percentage or ratio for self-promotion, checked by hand; discount codes and unrelated percentages removed
What "allowed with conditions" actually means
Paraphrased from the rules of communities that allow it.
- A frequency limit
At most 1 mention or 3 links every 60 days.
r/SaaS - Say it's yours
Disclose your connection when you mention your product.
r/SaaS · r/aisolobusinesses - Use the flair
Promote your product once, with the Self Promotion flair.
r/indiehackers - Earn karma first
At least 100 karma from this community before sharing your own work.
r/growthhacking - Ask a moderator
Promotion only with moderator approval.
r/smallmsp · r/appointmentsetter - Bring context
Share lessons or insight with it. Bare links and launch posts are removed.
r/microsaas · r/buildinpublic
Before you post, check its rule.
Seventeen of the biggest communities in our data, summarised from their own rules.
Promotion is allowed occasionally. At most 1 mention or 3 links every 60 days, with your affiliation disclosed.
What to do: Mention your product only where it answers the question, say it's yours, and keep count.
Rules change. Always read the community's own rules before posting.
Answer first. Then say it's yours.
Where mentions are allowed, this is the shape that survives moderators.
How do you stop losing follow-ups after a demo? We're five people and it keeps happening.
1Block 15 minutes after every demo and write the next step in the deal before you leave the call. Most dropped follow-ups are ones nobody owned. 2If you want a tool, Acme CRM reminds whoever ran the demo. 3Full disclosure, I work on it.
Going further than a comment? Read how to DM people without getting banned.
Every buyer comes with the community's rule.
RedBubblegum finds people asking for what you sell, and checks each community's rules so you know whether a link is allowed before you reply.
Our team keeps missing follow-ups after demos. What do other small agencies use to stay on top of it?
Illustrative example.
Self-promotion on Reddit, answered
Is the 10% rule a real Reddit rule?
Not sitewide any more. Reddit's old guideline said 10% or less of your posting should link to your own content. In May 2017 Reddit said it would stop enforcing that sitewide, and its current spam policy has no number. Some communities still use it: 44 of the 3,537 rulebooks we read state a ratio.
What is the 9:1 rule?
The same 10% guideline put another way: nine posts or comments that aren't about your product for every one that is. Reddit never used the phrase itself, but communities such as r/webdev and r/smallbusinessindia refer to it in their rules.
Do subreddits allow self-promotion?
It depends on the community. In the 138 communities where buyers posted in our data, 33% ban it, 6% allow it only in a weekly or monthly thread, 32% allow it with conditions, and 29% have no written rule beyond general spam.
Can I mention my product in a comment?
In many communities, yes, if it answers the question and you say it's yours. Some ban it even then: r/sales and r/SaaSSales don't allow it even when someone asks for recommendations.
Where do I find a community's rules?
In its Rules section: in the sidebar on desktop, and under About in the app. Some communities add details in a wiki or a pinned post.
Find the buyers. Know the rules before you reply.
Get your free shortlist Free, no card needed.Sources: Reddit Help: Spam · Reddit Rules · r/modnews: State of Spam (May 2017) · Reddit's old self-promotion page · Community rules: RedBubblegum data, July–October 2026.