r/programming: rules, audience and how brands can post there
6,932,695 members. Self-promotion allowed? No. Technical write-ups only.
r/programming is a general programming news and discussion community with more than 6.9 million members, most of them working developers. A brand can't post its product there, but a technical write-up about how something was built is explicitly allowed.
Paste your draft on the next page. We flag likely self-promotion and rule problems before you post.
- Members
- 6,932,695
- Self-promotion
- No. Technical write-ups only
- Created
- 2006
- Checked
- November 7, 2026
What r/programming is
Computer Programming
Engineering-led companies that can publish deep technical posts and are comfortable with no direct promotion.
Can a brand post in r/programming?
Rule 5 bans product promotion and 'I made this' demo posts. According to the rule, r/programming is not the place to post a project for feedback, help or promotion, and a link to a GitHub page or a list of features is not enough. Technical write-ups about what makes a project technically challenging, interesting or educational are allowed and encouraged, as long as the write-up is the focus of the post. The mods' version: they don't care what you built, they care how you build it. The rules also ban content written by large language models, newsletters and listicles that aggregate content, surveys and job postings.
What works
- A technical write-up that teaches how a hard problem was solved, with the product as a side note
- Original, human-written text, since the first rule bans LLM-written content
- News or analysis with real discussion value, which is what the top posts of the past year are
- Questions sent to the right place, such as r/learnprogramming, instead of posted here
What gets removed
- A link to a GitHub page or feature list presented as a launch
- 'I made this' demos and requests for feedback on your project
- Newsletters, listicles and roundups that collect other people's content
- Posts or comments written with an LLM, including for translation or summaries
The rules, summarised
- 1. No LLM-Written Content
If you don't want to write it, we don't want to read it. This includes the use of LLMs for translation or summarisation. Moderators reserve discretion in ambiguous cases.
- 2. AI-related posts must comply with the AI Policy
Content written by an LLM is banned, including LLM translation or summaries.
- 3. No Political Posts or Personal/Social Drama/Gossip
r/programming is not a place to share content with a primary focus on politics, personal drama, social gossip, or such. Examples of inappropriate topics would include: Please vote for net neutrality.
- 4. No Non-Programming/Generic LLM/Diffusion Content
r/programming is not a place to share AI content that has nothing to do with programming or is overly generic. Examples of inappropriate topics would include: Claude spent all my money at Vegas.
- 5. No Product Promotion/"I Made This" Project Demo Posts
Product promotion and 'I made this' demo posts are banned. Technical write-ups about how a project was built are allowed and encouraged, but a bare GitHub link or feature list is not.
- 6. No Content Aggregators
No newsletters, listicles, or anything similar that aggregates content. If you found 15 open source projects that will blow my mind, post those 15 projects instead and we'll be the judge of that.
- 7. No Surveys Or Job Postings
If it seeks to extract value from the sub without contributing anything, it isn't welcome. Check out /r/samplesize as an alternative place to submit surveys.
- 8. No Support Questions or AskReddit-Type Questions
/r/programming is not a support forum. If you have a question, check out /r/learnprogramming, /r/cscareerquestions, or Stack Overflow. Similarly, if you'd see it on a programming-focused version of AskReddit, it doesn't belong here.
- 9. No Meta Posts
Examples of inappropriate topics would include: DAE think r/programming sucks? DAE think r/programming rocks? Why did you remove my post? Why did you ban this user that is totes not me I swear I'm just asking questions.
- 10. No Images, Memes, Or Other Low Effort Posts
There's better subs for them, and if we allowed them they'd just flood the sub.
- 11. No Blogspam
Don't post actual blogspam: blogposts that do nothing more than linking to a primary source. We may leave these up if they are the first post to get traction about a news event and they're the best discussion going on about the news event.
- 12. No Extreme Beginner Content
Examples of inappropriate topics would include: What is a variable. What is a for loop. Making an HTTP request using curl. We may leave these up if they've generated a lot of healthy discussion.
- 13. Comments: No Bots
Actual humans only, please and thank you.
- 14. Comments: No Incivility
If you're unable to say something without calling someone names, don't say it at all.
Source: the community's own rules page, read on November 7, 2026. Rules change, so check the page before you post. See also the 9:1 rule.
Frequently asked questions
Can I promote my product on r/programming?
No. Rule 5 bans product promotion and 'I made this' project demo posts. A technical write-up about how you built something is allowed, but it has to be the focus of the post, not a way to sneak a link through.
Can I use AI to write a post for r/programming?
No. The first rule bans LLM-written content, and the mods say that includes using an LLM for translation or summaries.
Want help earning a place in r/programming?
30-minute intro call with a partner. If we're not the fit, we'll tell you in the first five minutes.
We take on 3 new engagements per quarter. Serious teams only.