Reddit Self-Promotion Checker

What counts as self-promotion on Reddit?

Self-promotion on Reddit is any post or comment that points people to something you own or profit from: your product, your company, your newsletter, or an affiliate link. Reddit allows it in principle, but treats it as spam when promotion is the main reason you participate. In practice, each subreddit sets its own line in its sidebar rules, and AutoModerator enforces it automatically. The patterns that trip those filters are consistent across communities: links in a first comment, URL shorteners, tracking parameters, repeated brand names, and sales language such as "sign up" or "DM me". A reply that answers the question in full, names a product once, and discloses the affiliation reads as a peer recommendation. The same product mention without the answer reads as an ad and usually gets removed or reported.

Is the 9:1 rule still a Reddit rule?

The 9:1 rule says to make nine helpful contributions for every one that promotes your own work. It comes from Reddit's older self-promotion guidelines, and Reddit no longer publishes it as a fixed sitewide ratio. Many subreddits still enforce a version of it, either written into their rules or applied by moderators who check your post history before approving a link. Treat it as a useful habit rather than a loophole. Moderators look at the overall pattern of an account: whether it comments in threads where it has nothing to sell, whether it answers follow-up questions, and whether every comment ends with the same link. An account with a long history of genuine help can mention its product occasionally. A new account that only ever mentions one product will be filtered no matter how it phrases the reply.

How do you mention your product on Reddit without getting banned?

Answer the question first, completely, as if your product did not exist. Then, if it genuinely fits, add one line that names it as one option and says plainly that you built it or work on it. Leave the link out unless someone asks for it, and never use a shortened or tracked URL. Keep the tone of a peer who has solved the same problem: specific numbers, the steps you took, what did not work. Read the subreddit rules before posting, because some communities ban any product mention and others allow it only in a weekly thread. Finally, reply from an account with real history in that community. This checker scores the text of the reply; it cannot see your account age, your karma, or a subreddit's own rules, so check those yourself.

What gets a Reddit comment removed