r/SideProject
The clearest example on Reddit of a big number meaning nothing. r/SideProject publishes a post every few minutes around the clock, and the typical one attracts a single comment.
What the numbers say
r/SideProject sees a very high volume of posts — about 294 a day — with almost no discussion — the typical post is ignored. That is a post every five minutes, into a room where half of everything posted never gets a second reply. Your launch post is visible for minutes and then it is gone.
| Measure | r/SideProject |
|---|---|
| Members | 800k |
| Created | 2013 |
| Posts per day | 294 |
| Median comments | 1 |
| Text posts | 69% |
| Accepts | Links and text |
| Rules total | 0 |
| Rules on promotion | 0 |
What these numbers mean and why subscriber count is the wrong one is explained on the directory hub.
Post here to have launched, not to get users
There is a specific fantasy this subreddit sells, and it is worth naming: that 800,000 members means 800,000 potential users. What the numbers actually describe is a queue. Nearly three hundred people a day arrive to announce something, and almost nobody arrives to read announcements.
This is not a moderation failure — it is what an unmoderated launch board becomes. Everyone in it wants the same thing, which is attention, and attention is the one resource nobody is bringing.
If you post here anyway, and there is no real harm in doing so, the posts that break the pattern all have one thing in common: they are worth reading independently of the product. A number, a mistake, a technique, something learned. "I built X, feedback welcome" is the format that gets one comment. "Here is what six months of building X taught me about Y, and here is the thing itself" occasionally gets forty.
Promotion rules
r/SideProject lists 0 rules and none of them specifically governs self-promotion, advertising or soliciting. That is unusual, and it does not mean promotion is welcome — it means the moderators have not written it down, so the community's own tolerance decides, and Reddit's sitewide self-promotion guidance still applies. Read a week of threads before assuming anything.
When to post in r/SideProject
Hours whose posts drew the most discussion, across the 100 most recent:
- 07:00 UTC (2am ET / 11pm PT) — averaged 15.3 comments per post
- 09:00 UTC (4am ET / 1am PT) — averaged 8 comments per post
- 08:00 UTC (3am ET / 12am PT) — averaged 6.4 comments per post
A tie-breaker, not a rule — see why timing matters less than you would like.
Who should watch this subreddit
Nobody, as a monitoring target. Worth one post on launch day for completeness, with expectations set accordingly.
Related communities: r/indiehackers, r/microsaas, r/SaaS, r/EntrepreneurRideAlong.
Frequently asked questions
Can you promote your business in r/SideProject?
Yes — showing your project is the entire purpose, and there are few restrictions. That permissiveness is precisely why the community has no attention left to give: when everything is promotion, promotion is worthless.
Is r/SideProject good for finding leads?
Either almost nobody reads it, or promotion is banned outright. At a median of one comment across roughly 300 posts a day, the arithmetic is against you no matter how good the post is.
How active is r/SideProject?
About 294 posts a day from 800k members, with a median of 1 comments per post — almost no discussion — the typical post is ignored.
Find the subreddit that is worth your time instead
If r/SideProject is not it, the free Subreddit Finder will suggest communities for your category, and RedditScout will score the posts once you have picked one.
Try the Subreddit Finder →Measured 2026-08-05. Check any other community on demand.