Promotion banned

Promoting on r/startup: Rules and What Gets Removed

r/startup is Reddit's startup community, a space for people building and learning about startups to exchange knowledge and ideas and support each other.

311.2K

members

~3

posts / day

2008

created

3

community rules

Can you promote your product in r/startup?

No, you should not promote your product in r/startup. The rules explicitly say "No spam or self-promotion. No solicitations of any kind" and the structured rules add "No spam. No Solicitations" with "No spam meant to drive traffic off-site. No solicitation/". You also have to use self posts only, so promotional or traffic-driving posts are not allowed.

The rules that cover promotion

No spam or self-promotion. No solicitations of any kind.

"No spam or self-promotion. No solicitations of any kind."

No spam. No Solicitations

"No spam meant to drive traffic off-site. No solicitation/"

Self posts only (Enforced)

"Self posts only (Enforced)"

Quoted from the subreddit's own rules, snapshot from July 2026. Read all 3 rules on Reddit

What gets removed

  • Spam
  • Self-promotion
  • Solicitations of any kind
  • Posts not relevant, posts that are not self posts, and spam meant to drive traffic off-site

Safer ways to show up

  • Make sure your post is relevant to startups
  • Use self posts only
  • Share knowledge and ideas instead of promoting a product
  • Participate by supporting others and contributing useful startup discussion
Whatever the written rules say, the pattern that gets promo removed everywhere is the same: batches of similar comments, reused wording, and necro-posting on old threads. A promotional mention only has value if it survives, so pace matters more than volume. We measured this the expensive way: 70% of bought pool comments were removed within two weeks. See also how to find customers on Reddit without getting banned.

Which subreddits fit your product?

Paste your website and get matching subreddits free, or let PulseFox watch them daily and hand you the threads worth replying to.