Karma is the score Reddit gives your account for the upvotes your posts and comments collect. Many subreddits check it before they let you post, so a new account with 1 karma often gets filtered no matter how good the post is. Below are the ways to build it that people actually use, from the fastest to the slowest.
Why karma matters
Most large subreddits use AutoModerator, a bot that removes posts from accounts below a set karma or age. The numbers are rarely public: one community asks for 50 comment karma, another for 500 total karma and an account older than a month. Moderators also look at your history before they approve anything borderline. Karma is the first thing that tells them you are a real member of the community and not a profile made yesterday to drop a link.
1. Comment early on rising posts
Open a large subreddit and sort by Rising or New. A post that is just starting to climb will be read by thousands of people in the next hours, and the first useful comments under it collect most of the votes. A short, clear answer or a good joke posted in the first 30 minutes usually earns more than a long comment under a post that is already at the top.
2. Answer questions in subreddits you know
Every hobby and profession has subreddits where people ask for help. If you know the topic, a helpful answer gets upvoted steadily and keeps getting votes for days. This is also the safest kind of karma: it comes with a history that moderators like to see.
3. Post in small and medium subreddits first
In a subreddit with millions of members a new post competes with hundreds of others every hour. In a community of 20,000 to 200,000 people a good post stays visible longer and gets noticed. Pick communities where your post fits the topic exactly.
4. Read the rules before you post
A removed post earns nothing and can get you banned from the subreddit. Check the rules and the sidebar: allowed formats, required flair, bans on links or self-promotion, minimum karma and account age. Two minutes of reading save the post.
5. Post when the subreddit is awake
The first hour decides whether a post moves into Hot. Look at the top posts of the past week and note when they were published. Posting at that time gives your post the readers it needs to climb.
6. Reply to comments on your own posts
Comments under your post count as comment karma when they get upvoted, and an active thread keeps the post in front of people. Answer questions, thank people for corrections, add details.
7. Use the formats the subreddit likes
Some communities upvote images, others long text posts, others links with a short summary. Copy the format of what already works there instead of posting the same thing everywhere.
8. Be careful with “free karma” subreddits
There are subreddits where people upvote each other to raise karma. The karma is real, but many moderators know these communities, and some subreddits filter accounts with activity there. Karma from real discussions is worth more than the number itself.
9. Do a little every day
Ten good comments a day for two weeks build more karma and a better history than one burst of activity. An account that comments regularly also looks more trustworthy to moderators than one that wakes up once a month.
How to get comment karma
Comment karma comes only from upvotes on comments, and some subreddits check it separately from post karma. To raise it, focus on ways 1, 2 and 6: early comments on rising posts, helpful answers and replies in your own threads.
How long it takes
With daily activity in active subreddits, most people reach a few hundred karma in one or two weeks. Getting to 1,000 and more usually takes a month or longer, and account age keeps growing only with time.
When it makes sense to skip the wait
If you need to post in a strict community this week, or you run several projects at once, building karma on every account takes too long. An aged Reddit account with karma is ready to post from the first day: 100+ karma costs $20, 1,000+ karma $60, 2,000+ karma $100. For a new post that needs to reach Hot, Reddit upvotes start from 10 for $4.
