What Is Karma on Reddit?

Reddit karma is the platform's reputation system. It determines where you can post, who sees your content, and whether other users trust you.

How karma works

When someone upvotes your post or comment, your karma goes up by roughly one point. When someone downvotes, it goes down. The system tracks two separate numbers on your profile: post karma from submissions and comment karma from replies. Different subreddits may require minimums in one category or both, so the distinction matters.

The upvote-to-karma ratio isn't 1:1

A common misconception is that 100 upvotes equals 100 karma. Reddit applies diminishing returns. The first few votes on a post give close to 1:1 karma, but as the count climbs into the thousands each additional upvote contributes less. A post with 10,000 upvotes might net you 5,000 to 6,000 karma, not 10,000.

Reddit doesn't publish the exact formula, but the pattern has been documented by the community for years. Comments and posts use slightly different scaling, with post karma typically decaying faster than comment karma at high vote counts.

Why karma actually matters

For casual browsers, karma is just a number. For anyone who wants to participate on Reddit, it is a gatekeeper. Low karma blocks you from:

• Posting in popular subreddits. Communities like r/Entrepreneur, r/personalfinance, and r/technology enforce karma minimums. New accounts get silently removed by AutoModerator.
• Commenting at a normal pace. Reddit rate-limits low-karma accounts to roughly one comment every 10 minutes.
• Creating subreddits. You need a minimum karma balance and an account at least 30 days old.
• Being taken seriously. Other users check profiles. An account with 1 karma posting product links gets reported as spam.

Post karma vs. comment karma

Comment karma is easier to build consistently. A well-timed reply on a thread that's gaining momentum can bring in 20 to 100 upvotes without much effort. Post karma is spikier — you need an original idea, a compelling title, and a subreddit where the post fits. When it works, the upside is bigger; a single front-page post can earn more karma in an afternoon than a month of commenting.

Most people who need to build karma quickly start with comments. Once they have enough to avoid rate limits, they mix in posts. The combination of both is the fastest path to a healthy account.

What is considered "low" karma?

Different subreddits have different thresholds and most don't publish them publicly. From community testing, here's what the tiers look like:

• 0 to 10 karma: Effectively invisible. Most large subreddits auto-remove your content.
• 10 to 100 karma: You can participate in general communities. Still locked out of tightly moderated subs.
• 100 to 500 karma: Most gates are open. Reddit starts treating you as a real user.
• 500 to 1,000 karma: You can post anywhere without extreme requirements.
• 1,000+ karma: Account age matters more than karma at this point.

Can you lose karma?

Yes. Downvotes subtract from karma. Reddit caps how much a single post or comment can lose (the floor is somewhere between -15 and -100), so one unpopular opinion will not wipe out your account. If a comment starts piling up downvotes, delete it before it drags your score down further.

How to start building karma

1. Sort subreddits by "rising" and comment early on posts gaining traction.
2. Answer questions in niche communities where you have real expertise.
3. Avoid karma farming subreddits. Posting there gets you banned from communities you actually care about.
4. Write two to five thoughtful comments a day across different subreddits. Do that consistently and the points add up.

Karma measures whether the community finds your contributions useful. Be useful and the number takes care of itself.