BuyUpvotes Team
Reddit karma is one of the most misunderstood metrics in social media. New users either obsess over it or ignore it completely β and both approaches are wrong.
Karma is not a vanity metric and it’s not the point of Reddit. But it is a real, functional gate that determines what you can and can’t do on the platform. Understanding exactly what karma does, how it’s calculated, and how to build it efficiently is the difference between an account that can operate freely across Reddit and one that’s constantly blocked, filtered, or shadowbanned.
This guide covers everything: the mechanics of karma, why it matters, which types matter most, how to build it quickly, and β critically β when buying Reddit accounts with existing karma is the faster path to your goal.
Karma is Reddit’s point system. You earn karma when other users upvote your posts and comments. You lose karma when they downvote. The number displayed on your profile is a cumulative total β it doesn’t decrease when you spend time on Reddit, it only changes when people vote on your content.
But karma is not one number. Reddit splits karma into two separate categories, and this distinction matters enormously.
Post karma β earned from upvotes on posts you submit. A post that gets 500 upvotes gives you approximately 500 post karma. Post karma is easier to accumulate but is weighted less heavily by subreddit filters.
Comment karma β earned from upvotes on comments you leave. Comment karma is harder to build because it requires writing individual responses that other users find valuable enough to upvote. But comment karma is the type that matters most for accessing restricted subreddits.
Most subreddits that have karma requirements specify comment karma β not total karma, not post karma. An account with 50,000 post karma from meme subreddits and zero comment karma will be blocked from posting in r/personalfinance, r/CryptoCurrency, or r/entrepreneur just as effectively as an account with zero karma at all.
Karma affects your Reddit experience in three concrete ways.
Subreddit posting restrictions. This is the most significant function of karma. Subreddits use AutoModerator β Reddit’s automated moderation system β to automatically remove posts and comments from accounts below a karma threshold. These thresholds are set by subreddit moderators and vary widely.
Examples of real karma requirements in major subreddits:
| Subreddit | Requirement |
|---|---|
| r/CryptoCurrency | 100+ comment karma, 1+ year account age |
| r/personalfinance | 100+ comment karma |
| r/entrepreneur | Posts filtered below ~50 karma |
| r/OnlyFansPromotions | 500+ comment karma |
| r/learnprogramming | Account age + comment karma |
| r/gonewild | 1,000+ comment karma |
| r/SaaS | Informal β low karma posts get less visibility |
These requirements exist because subreddits have learned that low-karma accounts are disproportionately likely to be spam, self-promotion, or inauthentic behavior. Karma requirements are a proxy for “this account has participated in Reddit genuinely.”
Shadowbanning and filtering. Accounts with very low karma β especially new accounts β have their posts automatically held for review or shadowbanned entirely. A shadowbanned post appears to the author as published, but no other user can see it. The algorithm never gets a chance to rank it. Many new users spend weeks posting content that nobody sees because their account lacks the karma to pass Reddit’s automated filters.
Trust signals in communities. Beyond automated filters, karma functions as a trust signal that real users assess. In comment sections, an account with 5,000 comment karma across diverse subreddits is perceived as a genuine community member. An account with 0 comment karma posting a product recommendation looks like a shill account β even if it’s not.
Reddit doesn’t publish the exact formula for karma calculation, but through observation the mechanics are well understood.
Karma is not 1:1 with upvotes. Reddit applies vote fuzzing β a deliberate obfuscation of vote counts to make it harder to manipulate the system. This means your displayed karma may differ slightly from your actual upvote count.
There is a karma cap per post. Reddit caps the karma a single post can contribute to your total. A post with 100,000 upvotes doesn’t give you 100,000 karma β the contribution diminishes after a certain threshold. This is why accounts that went viral once don’t necessarily have dramatically higher karma than consistent contributors.
Downvotes remove karma. Each downvote subtracts from your karma total. For posts and comments that receive heavy downvoting, karma can go negative. A sufficiently downvoted comment can subtract more karma than dozens of upvoted comments added.
Deleted posts and comments still count. Karma earned before deletion is retained. Deleting a well-performing post doesn’t remove the karma it generated.
For how karma interacts with post visibility and ranking, see How Reddit’s Algorithm Works: Complete Guide for 2026.
Comment karma is the type that matters most and the hardest to build β which is why most guides skip over it. Here’s what actually works.
The highest-upvoted comments on any Reddit post are almost always comments that were posted early β within the first 30β60 minutes of the post going live. Users browsing a post see early comments first, upvote the ones they agree with, and rarely scroll far enough to see comments added later.
The tactic: monitor New feeds in your target subreddits. When a post appears that you can add genuine value to, comment immediately. A comment posted 5 minutes after a post that goes on to receive 10,000 upvotes will itself receive hundreds or thousands of upvotes β because your comment was visible during the entire growth phase of the post.
Subreddits built around helping people β r/personalfinance, r/legaladvice, r/AskDocs, r/techsupport, r/learnprogramming β are the most reliable environments for earning comment karma. Users ask questions, you provide genuinely useful answers, they upvote.
The key is thoroughness. A one-sentence answer in a help subreddit earns 0β2 upvotes. A structured, comprehensive answer that addresses the question completely and anticipates follow-up questions earns 50β500 upvotes consistently. This is the highest-reliability karma farming approach available.
When a major news story, cultural event, or trending topic hits Reddit, dozens of related posts appear across multiple subreddits simultaneously. Users flood these threads with comments, but early, well-framed comments earn significant upvotes from the large temporary audience.
Monitor r/all and your target subreddits during major events. If something relevant to your expertise is trending, a well-timed, insightful comment can earn hundreds of karma points in a few hours.
r/funny, r/memes, r/AskReddit, and entertainment subreddits reward genuinely funny comments with upvotes at a high rate. If you have a natural sense of humor that fits Reddit’s culture β dry, absurdist, self-aware β these communities can generate comment karma quickly.
The risk is inconsistency. Humor that lands earns karma; humor that doesn’t lands in neutral to negative territory. This strategy has higher variance than the help subreddit approach.
When threads ask for personal experience β “What’s the best decision you ever made?”, “What do you wish you’d known at 25?”, “What’s something you learned the hard way?” β detailed, authentic answers consistently earn upvotes. Reddit values real experience over generic advice, and these threads often have large audiences actively looking for stories to upvote.
For a full playbook on turning upvotes into visibility, read How to Get Upvotes on Reddit: The Complete Guide for 2026.
Post karma is easier to build than comment karma but matters less for accessing restricted subreddits. Here’s how to build it efficiently if you need to.
Informational posts in learning subreddits. Posts that teach something specific and useful β “I spent 6 months learning X, here’s everything I wish I’d known” β consistently earn post karma in subreddits like r/learnprogramming, r/personalfinance, r/fitness, and r/productivity.
Original content in visual subreddits. r/mildlyinteresting, r/interestingasfuck, r/oddlysatisfying, and similar subreddits reward genuinely interesting visual content with large vote counts. A single post in these communities can generate thousands of post karma points if the content genuinely fits the community’s aesthetic.
Timing posts for peak activity. Post karma accumulates through the same algorithmic mechanics as virality β early momentum determines final performance. Posting during peak activity hours for your target subreddit is as important for building karma efficiently as it is for any other goal.
Many subreddits require not just karma but account age β typically expressed as a minimum number of days or years since account creation. This requirement exists independently of karma and cannot be bypassed by accumulating more karma.
Common account age requirements:
Account age requirements create a genuine problem for anyone who needs to post in restricted subreddits quickly. There is no organic workaround β you cannot build account age faster than real time passes.
This is the primary reason many marketers, affiliate marketers, and Reddit power users purchase aged Reddit accounts rather than building new ones from scratch. A 3-year-old account with 2,000 comment karma that can be purchased and used immediately saves months of waiting and karma building.
Tip: If karma and account age are blocking your timeline, buy Reddit accounts with karma and age β including accounts with karma and aged profiles β let you skip the months-long warm-up phase.
Organic karma building is the right approach for anyone with time and a genuine interest in participating in Reddit communities. It produces authentic accounts with natural posting histories that look credible to both moderators and users.
But organic karma building is the wrong approach in several scenarios.
When you need to post in karma-gated subreddits now. If you’re launching a product, promoting a project, or running a campaign with a specific timeline, spending 3β6 months building karma before you can post is not viable. A purchased aged account with existing karma solves this immediately.
When you need multiple accounts for multiple campaigns. Affiliate marketers, agencies, and power users who run simultaneous campaigns across different niches need multiple accounts with different histories. Building 5 separate accounts organically over months is not a realistic strategy.
When account age requirements can’t be waited out. If a subreddit requires a 1-year-old account and your campaign starts in 2 months, no amount of karma building changes the account age problem. A purchased account with the required age is the only solution.
When your primary goal is promotion, not community participation. If you’re on Reddit to promote a product, service, or content β not to become a genuine community member β spending months building karma through genuine participation is not the most efficient use of your time.
If you’re purchasing a Reddit account or selecting one from a marketplace, karma quantity is only one of several factors that matter.
Comment karma vs post karma ratio. As established, comment karma matters more. An account with 5,000 comment karma and 500 post karma is significantly more useful than an account with 5,000 post karma and 100 comment karma for accessing restricted subreddits.
Account age. Older accounts pass more filters and are perceived as more credible. The sweet spot for most campaigns is 2β5 years β old enough to pass age requirements, but not so rare that the account commands a significant price premium. For the most restricted communities, 7+ year accounts may be necessary.
Posting history relevance. An account with comment history in subreddits related to your target niche looks more credible than an account with history in completely unrelated communities. An account that has previously commented in r/personalfinance is a better fit for finance promotion than an account whose entire history is in r/gaming.
Email verification status. Many subreddits and Reddit features require email-verified accounts. Always confirm that any account you purchase includes verified email access.
No prior bans or warnings. An account that has been banned from key subreddits cannot post there regardless of its karma or age. Check that the account’s history is clean before using it for important campaigns.
Karma interacts with Reddit’s ranking algorithm in ways that go beyond simple posting access.
High-karma comments get more visibility. Comments from accounts with significant karma receive slightly more algorithmic prominence in some subreddit configurations. More importantly, high-karma accounts are perceived as more credible by human readers, which affects upvote behavior.
Karma builds trust that generates more karma. This is the compounding effect that makes established accounts genuinely valuable. An account with 10,000 comment karma earns upvotes more easily than a new account making the same comment β because users extend more trust to accounts that have demonstrated Reddit participation over time.
Low karma triggers additional friction. Beyond automated filters, accounts with very low karma encounter human friction β users who question the account’s credibility, moderators who scrutinize posts more closely, and community members who are quicker to downvote content that seems inauthentic.
Karma farming in irrelevant subreddits. Building thousands of post karma in r/memes then trying to use that account for professional promotion in r/entrepreneur is less effective than it appears. The karma total may pass basic filters, but the posting history creates credibility problems.
Ignoring comment karma entirely. Many users focus on post karma because posts can go viral and generate thousands of karma points quickly. But building zero comment karma while accumulating post karma creates an account profile that looks inauthentic to both automated filters and human moderators.
Buying cheap accounts with unverifiable karma. Low-quality purchased accounts may have karma generated through vote manipulation, which Reddit detects and can result in the karma being stripped or the account being shadowbanned. Quality accounts from reputable sources have karma built through genuine activity.
Using a high-karma account recklessly. A high-karma aged account is a valuable asset. Using it for obvious spam or rule violations can result in a ban β losing all the accumulated karma and age value permanently. Treat aged accounts as assets to be used strategically, not burned on high-risk behavior.
Different goals require different karma levels. Here’s a practical reference.
Karma is a gate, not a goal. The goal is access β being able to post where you need to post, when you need to post, with an account that the community and algorithm treat as credible.
Building karma organically is the right path for long-term Reddit participation. It takes 3β6 months to build genuinely useful comment karma, and the process of building it β participating in communities, answering questions, contributing to discussions β creates accounts with authentic histories that perform best.
For anyone with a specific timeline, a specific campaign, or a need for multiple accounts simultaneously β purchasing aged accounts with existing karma is the efficient path. The key is knowing what to look for: comment karma over post karma, account age that meets your target subreddits’ requirements, relevant posting history, and clean account status.
The combination of understanding what karma does, building it where it matters, and supplementing with purchased accounts when speed is required β that is the complete karma strategy for serious Reddit users in 2026.
