Can I mention my product when it directly answers someone's question?
No. Rule “No (self-)promotion” bans promoting your own product or affiliate products, and that includes answering questions with a plug for your own thing.
Subreddit guides
r/AskProgramming rules, stats, and what to post
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/AskProgramming: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.
Subreddit guides combine public Reddit source URLs, captured rules, visible verification dates, and Rankhog's account-safety workflow.
Current public stats
- Members
- 236,066
- Verified
- October 12, 2026
- Category
- Technical product and developer communities
Rules can change, so Rankhog keeps verification dates and the original public Reddit sources visible.
Rule summary
- No (self-)promotion: Please do not promote your own product or affiliate products. If you just recommend a tool in general as an answer that is fine though.
- No trolling, baiting, insults, etc.: Don't troll or flamebait, insult others, or act in bad faith.
- Must be Programming related: Off-Topic
- No Illegal/unethical activities: No Illegal/unethical activities
- No commercial offers: /r/Slavelabour leaking
- No academic dishonesty: No academic dishonesty
- Title and post quality: Guidelines on ["how do I ask a good question"](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask) apply. Most importantly: * Titles should be concise but descriptive about the posts content. * If it is about a problem, provide both context and code. * Actually describe your problem. "Why does this code not do what I want" without actually specifying what you want is not a good description.
- Code must be text and properly formatted: Do not post screenshots of your code. Put it as text on reddit (properly formatted), pastebin, hastebin, github gists, jsfiddle or similar.
- No AI generated content: If we wanted to read some AIs output, we'd be on Chat-GPT.
- ChatGPT Panic Question: ChatGPT Panic Question
Works well
- A question about a real bug you hit while building your product, with a descriptive title, context, and code pasted as formatted text
- An answer to someone else's question where you recommend a tool in general, without naming your own product or using an affiliate link
- A question about a technical tradeoff you are facing in your stack, written in your own words with enough detail that someone could actually help
- A follow up comment sharing what worked, once your original question is resolved, still with no product plug
Avoid
- Announcing your product launch or linking to your landing page, because “No (self-)promotion” bans promoting your own product
- Dropping affiliate links in answers, because the same rule covers affiliate products
- Pasting AI written answers or posts, because “No AI generated content” bans that outright
- Asking why ChatGPT gave a weird answer or got confused, because “ChatGPT Panic Question” covers those posts
- Uploading a screenshot of your code instead of text, because “Code must be text and properly formatted” requires text
- Writing a vague title like why does this not work, because “Title and post quality” demands a descriptive title and a real problem statement
What r/AskProgramming Is For
This is a question and answer community for programming. People come here to ask questions about code, get unstuck on problems, and hear how other developers think. The description is short, ask questions about programming, and the rules keep it that way. The room expects real questions with real context, written by a real person, and answers from people who actually know the topic. If you are a founder, think of this as a place to be a helpful peer, not a place to pitch.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
The rule that decides everything for a founder is “No (self-)promotion”, which bans promoting your own product or affiliate products, while allowing a general tool recommendation as an answer. “Title and post quality” is the next gate, because it demands a concise descriptive title, context and code for problems, and a real description of what you want. “Code must be text and properly formatted” means screenshots of code get removed, so paste code as text or use a service like GitHub Gist. “No AI generated content” bans AI written posts entirely, and “ChatGPT Panic Question” covers the flood of posts about ChatGPT confusing itself. “Must be Programming related” keeps the room on topic, so a marketing post with no programming question does not belong. “No commercial offers” blocks anything that looks like a job or service offer leaking in from elsewhere.
What To Post
Post a genuine programming question that you have actually hit while building something. Write a title that says exactly what the post is about, in a short descriptive line. In the body, give the context, explain what you expected, what happened instead, and include your code as properly formatted text or a link to a gist. If someone asks a question your tool category touches, you can recommend a tool in general as an answer, just never your own product and never an affiliate link. Answer other people's questions with your own knowledge, in your own words, with no AI assistance.
What To Avoid
Do not promote your own product or drop affiliate links, that is the fastest way to get removed. Do not post anything written by AI, and do not post panic questions about ChatGPT. Do not post screenshots of code, always paste it as formatted text or use a gist service. Do not write vague titles or posts that never say what you actually want to happen. Do not post anything off topic, illegal, unethical, insulting, or that reads like a commercial offer.
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Common questions about r/AskProgramming
Can I recommend a tool at all?
Yes. The rule says recommending a tool in general as an answer is fine, as long as it is not your own product or an affiliate link.
Can I use AI to help write my post?
No. Rule “No AI generated content” is explicit, so anything you post must be written by you.
Can I link to code or a gist?
Yes, links are allowed, but code must be text and properly formatted, so use a code block or a service like GitHub Gist.
What makes a question post acceptable here?
It must be programming related, have a concise descriptive title, explain the context and what you actually want, and include code as formatted text if there is any.
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