Reddit karma is a score that reflects the upvotes and downvotes your posts and comments have received. In Reddit's own words, "your karma is a reflection of the upvotes and downvotes you receive on posts and comments you've made." It acts as a public signal that you are a genuine contributor, and some communities require a minimum amount of karma before they will let you post.
If you are marketing on Reddit, karma is not a vanity metric. It is the trust score that decides whether a new account can participate in the communities that matter, so it is worth understanding exactly how it works.
The two types of Reddit karma
Reddit currently has two kinds of karma: post karma, from upvotes on the posts you submit, and comment karma, from upvotes on the comments you leave. You can see both in your profile card, where Reddit shows "a breakdown of your post and comment karma."
You may have read that there are four types, including "awarder" and "awardee" karma. That is out of date. Those came from Reddit's Awards and Coins feature, which Reddit retired in September 2023, and its karma help page has listed only post and comment karma ever since.
How you earn karma
Karma comes from participation, not from gaming the system. Reddit explains it simply: "You can earn karma by participating in communities that you have an interest in and making posts and comments people enjoy and upvote. The more upvotes you get, the more karma you'll receive."
Two nuances matter. First, karma is not a one-to-one count of upvotes. Reddit states that "since it's just an approximate reflection, upvotes and karma don't have a 1:1 relationship." One reason is that, per Reddit's community etiquette guide, "some up/downvotes are by Reddit to fuzz the votes in order to confuse spammers and cheaters." Second, there is no point trying to reverse-engineer a formula, because Reddit has never published one. Karma is approximate by design.
Why karma matters
Karma is a trust signal, and communities use it as a spam filter. Reddit is explicit that a new account's first post might not show up because "some communities require a certain amount of karma before allowing you to post there. This measure is taken to prevent spamming within the community."
There is no sitewide karma number that unlocks Reddit. These minimums are set per community by its moderators, so the requirement varies from one subreddit to the next. For a brand, this is the practical reason a fresh, zero-karma account cannot simply show up and post where its buyers are. Genuine karma has to be built first.
Does Reddit karma have any monetary value?
You cannot buy, sell, gift, or cash out karma directly. But it is not entirely disconnected from money in 2026. Reddit's Contributor Program ties your karma tier to how much you earn on gold-based awards: "You earn more depending on the account karma and awards on your posts and comments." Eligible, enrolled participants fall into tiers by karma, and the tier sets the payout rate.
So karma alone pays nothing. But for someone in the Contributor Program, a higher karma tier multiplies what their monetizable content earns. "Karma has no value" is the common shorthand, and it is mostly true, but not the whole picture anymore.
What karma is not
Karma is not a goal to chase. Reddit's own advice is blunt: "Don't set out to accumulate karma; just set out to be a good contributor, and let your karma simply be a reflection of your legacy." Farming karma, buying it, or running vote manipulation to inflate it all risk a ban, because they are exactly the behavior Reddit's spam and vote-manipulation rules target.
Two widely repeated claims are also worth skipping: that karma decays over time, and that it stops at a fixed negative floor like -100. Reddit publishes nothing to support either. Karma can go negative, since it counts downvotes as well as upvotes, but Reddit does not state a floor, so treat specific numbers you see elsewhere as guesses, not rules.
Karma and Reddit marketing
Because karma gates access and signals trust, it is a real constraint on brand marketing. A new account cannot post in most valuable communities until it has built a genuine history, which is why account preparation is a core part of any serious Reddit strategy. That is the groundwork our Reddit account management work is built on: real, aged accounts with authentic karma, not shortcuts that get flagged.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get karma on Reddit?
Participate in communities you genuinely care about and make posts and comments that people upvote. There is no shortcut Reddit endorses; it advises you to be a good contributor and let karma follow, rather than trying to farm it.
Does Reddit karma expire?
Reddit publishes nothing suggesting karma decays or expires over time. It reflects the votes your posts and comments have accumulated, and there is no official statement that it drops off on its own.
Can Reddit karma go negative?
Yes. Because karma reflects downvotes as well as upvotes, heavily downvoted content can push karma below zero. Reddit does not publish a specific negative floor, so any exact "-100" limit you see is unverified.
How much karma do you need to post on Reddit?
There is no sitewide number. Some communities set a minimum karma or account-age requirement to prevent spam, and it varies by subreddit. Build a genuine posting and commenting history in relevant communities before you plan to share your own content.