Best subreddits for sharing your project

How to bring value and avoid spamming

Tereza Tizkova
5 min readDec 30, 2023
Image source: Reddit

I think Reddit is a great place to share a side hustle. However, it took me some time to learn how to ask for feedback on my coding projects or articles, without acting too self-promotional or annoying.

I am sharing tips that helped me create valuable content for subreddits and getting actual feedback on my work from the communities there.

Subreddits

I categorized the subreddits based on the rules, plus my experience:

πŸ”΄ = Self-promotion is prohibited without exception

🟑 = Self-promotion is highly limited (e.g., it shouldn’t exceed ~10% of your total content in that subreddit)

🟒 = Self-promotion is okay or even encouraged (e.g., the subreddit has β€œShare your work” weekly threads)

πŸ¦™ LLMs and ML

  • πŸ”΄ LLMDevs (3k members) β€” self-promotion is prohibited
  • 🟒 MachineLearning (3m members) β€” your content is allowed under certain rules (e.g. non-arxiv links on weekends only), examples of posts: 1, 2
  • 🟒 LearnMachineLearning (370k members) β€” similar to MachineLearning
  • 🟑 LocalLLaMA (65k members) β€” self-promotion is possible, but should not be more than 10% of your content there

πŸ“² AI agents and apps

  • 🟑 LangChain (10k members) β€” there is a lot of technical questions regarding LangChain, and the subreddit feels almost like a forum for solving problems.
  • 🟒 AI_Agents (1k members) β€” this subreddit is smaller and more specific, so I had a good experience with sharing my agent-building projects. May not apply to non-agent topics though.
  • 🟒 AutoGPT (13k members) β€” Not sure about posting rules, but I have seen quite a lot of self-promotional posts, for example, 1, 1, 3
  • 🟒 ChatGPTCoding (94k members) β€” Even though rules claim there will be a thread devoted to sharing your projects, people do it frequently in separate posts with great success. Examples of posts: 1, 2, 3, 4

πŸ€– AI β€” others

  • 🟑 Artificial (500k members) β€” β€œTutorials, Feedback, or Help is fine as long as it doesn’t link or advertise your socials. 10% or less of your posts and comments should link to your own content, including in comments.”
  • πŸ”΄ Singularity (1.5m members) β€” β€œSelf-promotion/Advertisement posts will not be tolerated.” I usually avoid this subreddit, even though I have seen successful sharing of people’s projects there. One example: 1
  • 🟑 AIPromptProgramming (18k members) β€” This subreddit warns about spamming, but reasonable sharing of your work is okay, e.g., 1
  • 🟒 AGI (40k members) β€” Seen self-promo occasionally, e.g. 1, 2

πŸ‘©πŸ½β€πŸ’» Coding

  • πŸ”΄ AskProgramming (115k members)β€” self-promotion is prohibited
  • 🟑 LearnProgramming (4m members) β€” Post to an official thread on Saturday
  • 🟒 Coding (600k members) —” Seeing what you made doesn’t intrinsically benefit others. If you write an article explaining it, the technical challenges, etc. β€” then share that!”
  • 🟒 Coolgithubprojects (50k members) β€” One of my favorite ones, because it is specifically made for sharing
  • 🟒 SideProject (131k members) β€” Similar to the above
  • 🟑 Programming (5.8m members)β€” Strict rules, but it is possible to share your project reasonably, e.g.: 1
  • 🟑 OpenSource (210k members) β€” limited self-promotion is allowed

πŸ‘©πŸ½β€πŸ’» Python Coding

(I will add JavaSCript when I explore its subreddits too).

All of the Python subreddits are quite alright to share your project on (of course with reasonable quality of your post).

πŸ‘©πŸ½β€πŸ’» Web

  • 🟑 WebDev (2m members) β€” Self-promotion with the 10% rule
  • 🟑 WebScrapping (19k members) β€” Strictly no self-promotion outside of the monthly thread

Tips for writing your post

Here are tips that worked for me. Get inspired too by the links to examples on each subreddit above.

  • Always share a demo video or GIF with your post (if allowed).
  • Always share a link to your project (if allowed).
  • Write the title based on the subreddit. For example, if you are posting to SideProject, use β€œI built …”, but if you are posting to AIAgents, write β€œAI Agent that can…”.
  • Always be the first one to add a comment under the post. Use the comment to add context to what you shared. In the comment, say that you are the author of the project, kindly ask for feedback, and describe technical aspects.
  • Don’t add a link to X (Twitter) as the primary link. Developers don’t like it.
  • Mention WHY is the project useful, HOW is it built, WHAT it can do, HOW it compares to similar products
  • Mix project-sharing posts with engaging in conversations and posting other things. When people go to your profile, it looks awkvard if the whole activity is sharing the same post 10 times.
  • Overall, use technical, simple language. Don’t try to praise your project and try to sell it, but instead, describe what you’ve built very technically. (E.g. what programming languages, dev tools, and LLMs were used)
Inspiration for a successful post in the r/SudeProject subreddit

What to do if the mods delete my post or even ban me

A few times I accidentally posted on a subreddit that allows sharing your projects only on weekends or doesn’t allow sharing at all. If my post got deleted or I was shadow-banned, I tried to nicely write the mods that I am sorry for making a mistake and kindly ask to get my access back. Surprisingly often, this works.

In conclusion, even if it’s not explicitly stated, it is good to follow the rules about not sharing your work too much and prefer quality over quantity. That is, picking 2–3 most suitable subreddits at a time, explaining your project well, and engaging in discussion under your post, is the optimal strategy in my opinion.

Let me know about other subreddits that you found useful, or what is your view on this topic.

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