Startups & founders

Best time to post in r/ycombinator

The best and worst hours to post, the rules that get posts removed, and a check of your draft against both.

Posts in r/ycombinator are most often removed for self-promotion issues. It is a public subreddit that does not allow link posts and does not require post flair. In our latest sample of 37 recent posts, an estimated 68% were still up about a day later.

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The best and worst hours to post in r/ycombinator

In our sample of 441 recent and top r/ycombinator posts, activity and scores peak around Wednesday 2pm UTC, and are weakest around Sunday 4pm UTC. Based on posts sampled through Sep 4, 2026. Times in this sentence are UTC; the grid below converts to your local timezone. Timing helps a clean post get seen. It does not save a post that breaks a rule.

Times in your timezoneUTC · GMT+0
  1. Window 1

    Wed around 2pm

    avg score 199.8 · 4 posts sampled

  2. Window 2

    Wed around 1pm

    avg score 201 · 2 posts sampled

  3. Window 3

    Wed around 5pm

    avg score 151.3 · 3 posts sampled

Your timezone: UTC (GMT+0). Darker cells mean more posts in our sample.

Compare r/ycombinator against every tracked community on the best time to post on Reddit tool.

Estimated survival rate

68%

of 37 recent r/ycombinator posts we sampled were still publicly visible about a day later.

How this is measured

Estimate. We sample recent public posts and check again about 18 hours later to count how many are still publicly visible. Posts removed at the moment of submission never become publicly visible at all, so the true removal rate is at least this high. Last sampled Sep 3, 2026.

Strictness: StrictPublic subText posts onlyFlair optionalSelf-promo banned

r/ycombinator rules: what actually gets removed

Each rule below is paired with the way it is most likely enforced. Where the rules state a number, we quote it. Where they do not, we say so instead of guessing.

  1. 1.Read the stickied post at the top of the sub.

    Enforcement varies

  2. 2.Don't be a jerk.

    Enforcement varies

    No trolling, harassment, ad hominem. Flame wars don’t contribute to discussions, and don’t help anyone.

  3. 3.Use the search before making a new post.

    Enforcement varies

  4. 4.Use the megathreads for feedback and application discussions.

    Enforcement varies

    Use the megathreads for feedback and application discussions.

  5. 5.No self promotion.

    Enforcement varies

  6. 6.No hiring or co-founder search posts.

    Enforcement varies

    Everyone is constantly either hiring or on the lookout for a co-founder. Please use the cofounder matching tool at https://www.ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching.

  7. 7.No memes, politics, or shitposts.

    Enforcement varies

    Find another sub for that. Low effort posts will be removed.

  8. 8.No solicitation of surveys, DMs, external groups, etc

    Enforcement varies

    Posts in this sub should be applicable to other members of this community, or promote discussion. Not requests that only apply to the poster.

  9. 9.No AMAs.

    Enforcement varies

  10. 10.No discussions about VCs or other accelerators.

    Enforcement varies

    These posts are better fitted for r/startups or r/startupaccelerators — you’ll likely get more insights there.

r/ycombinator does not publish karma or account-age minimums in its rules. Subreddits often enforce unpublished filters on top of what they write down, which is why posts from new accounts can vanish without a message here.

Can you self-promote in r/ycombinator?

No. r/ycombinator bans self-promotion outright: product links, launch posts, and thinly framed feedback posts get removed. The sub's own wording: "No self promotion.". If you want eyes on your project, contribute first and look for communities with a promo lane.

r/ycombinator by the numbers

Members
203K
Active right now
Not public
Posts / day
2
73 comments / day
Community age
15 years
since Apr 11, 2011
What a successful r/ycombinator post looks like · 41 top posts from the last month
Median title lengthPosts with a linkPosts with flairDominant format
59 characters0%0%text posts

What gets removed in r/ycombinator

  • Self-promotion

    r/ycombinator bans self-promo outright. Product links, launch posts, and thinly framed "feedback" posts are removed.

  • Low karma or a new account

    r/ycombinator publishes no karma or age minimum, but unpublished account filters are common at this size. New accounts should comment before posting.

  • Reddit's sitewide spam filter

    A separate layer before the subreddit ever sees your post. New accounts posting links, URL shorteners, and repeated domains are its favorite targets. Removals are instant and silent.

  • A shadowbanned account

    If the account itself is shadowbanned, every post looks live to you and invisible to everyone else, in any subreddit.

Wondering about a post that already disappeared? Start with why Reddit posts get removed or run the free shadowban check.

Subreddits like r/ycombinator

Posting somewhere adjacent? Each of these has its own rules and its own removal pattern. Check the one you actually plan to post in.

See all subreddits like r/ycombinator →

r/ycombinator posting questions

Can I post links in r/ycombinator?

No. r/ycombinator accepts text posts only, so a link-only submission is rejected at the door. You can usually mention a link inside the body text, but the sub's rules on self-promotion still apply to it. Check your draft against the rules before posting.

Does r/ycombinator require karma to post?

r/ycombinator does not publish a karma minimum. That does not mean there is none: many subreddits enforce unpublished karma and account-age filters that remove posts silently. If your account is new or has little karma, that is the first thing to rule out when a post disappears.

Can you self-promote in r/ycombinator?

No. r/ycombinator bans self-promotion outright: product links, launch posts, and thinly framed feedback posts get removed. The sub's own wording: "No self promotion.". If you want eyes on your project, contribute first and look for communities with a promo lane.

Is r/ycombinator strict?

Strict, by our estimate (41/100 on our strictness scale, from its measured removal rate, 10 rules, and its stated gates). About 32% of recent posts disappeared within a day in our sample. Strictness is about enforcement, not hostility: a strict sub is predictable if you follow its rules.

What is the best time to post in r/ycombinator?

Based on our sample of recent and top posts, activity and scores peak around Wednesday 2pm UTC and Wednesday 1pm UTC. Treat this as a starting point, not a guarantee: a post that breaks a rule gets removed at any hour. The heatmap on this page converts these windows to your local time.

Why do posts get removed in r/ycombinator?

The most common reasons are self-promotion violations, plus the layers every subreddit has: Reddit's sitewide spam filter, unpublished AutoMod rules, and account-level gates like karma and age. In our recent sample, roughly 32% of r/ycombinator posts disappeared within about a day of going up. Many removals are silent, so checking your draft first beats finding out after.

Rules last checked Sep 2, 2026

Go deeper: how AutoMod removals work, the shadowban explainer, or earning karma the allowed way.

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