How to Promote OnlyFans on Reddit: Step‑by‑Step Guide for Affiliate Traffic

If you’re tired of constant bans and the need to farm dozens or even hundreds of accounts, it’s time to try your hand at an alternative source of free traffic. In this article, you will learn how to promote OnlyFans on Reddit and drive traffic to the adult vertical in general. This is a platform with huge potential — it is visited by over 3 billion users monthly. The majority of this number comes from Tier-1 countries. According to SimilarWeb, about half of its users are Americans.

We will also break down everything you need to know to promote NSFW content on Reddit: which tools are necessary, how to prepare and set up accounts, how to find subreddits, and how to bypass shadow bans.

Best Tools for Promoting OnlyFans on Reddit

To get started, you will need a standard set of tools and resources:

• Anti-detect browser. Since working with this source is about quality over quantity — you won’t need to create dozens of spam accounts — Linken Sphere is the best choice, offering the ability to generate up to 10 profiles for free. If you want to understand its functionality, check out our detailed review;
• Proxies. Professionals in Reddit affiliate marketing advise not to skimp here and to use mobile proxies — this significantly reduces the chance of your account falling into a shadow ban;
• Accounts. Lately, the platform has been aggressively banning newly registered accounts during purges, so you’ll definitely need to purchase accounts. If you want to save money or launch your own shop, we recommend checking our material on Reddit account farming.

A separate point worth mentioning is ad creatives — gifs, videos, and photos. I recommend first getting used to how to properly drive traffic to the adult vertical, particularly to OnlyFans.

There are two main reasons for this:
First, there are NSFW sections where you can post nude content without fearing bans.
Second, professional models and agencies will provide you with content. Therefore, you won’t have to spend time and effort searching for ad creatives.

How to Find High‑Traffic Subreddits for OnlyFans Promotion

There are no universal methods for selecting subreddits — everything depends on the model type you are working with.

If you don’t know where to start, you can refer to special services. For example, one of them is RedditList. Subreddits intended for posting nude content are marked with the NSFW label.

Experienced Reddit affiliate marketers recommend selecting around 50–70 subreddits for one account. To begin, you should classify the content provided by the agency. If this is difficult at first, you can search in subreddits used by models who closely resemble the type of girl you’re working with.

The strategy is quite simple overall — observe where these models are posting and write down those subreddits. Through trial and error, you’ll gradually build a large list of subreddits that host your most relevant target audience.

How to Detect a Shadowban on Reddit

Shadowbanning on Reddit is a common issue. Let’s first look at how to correctly check whether your account is shadowbanned.

Method 1: Manual Checking via Logged‑Out Browsing

There are two main ways — an official method and one using a third-party tool.

1. Go to a subreddit designed specifically for checking shadowban status.
2. Click “Create Post.”

3. Enter a random title and post body. Also, don’t forget to add the tag: “To determine a shadowban, you MUST click my profile.”

4. The page will refresh, and you will see your post in the subreddit. To determine if your account is shadowbanned, simply hover your cursor over the account name.

Method 2: Using Reddit Shadowban Tester

There is also a website that automatically checks whether an account is shadowbanned. It’s simple: go to Reddit Shadowban Tester, enter your username, and click the “Check” button.

Why Reddit Shadowbans Accounts

Shadowbans are not issued manually; they are applied automatically by the system. Reddit does not disclose the specific reason why the algorithm shadowbanned a particular account. What actions are most likely to lead to a shadowban?

• Low-quality proxies. As mentioned earlier, accounts must be operated through mobile proxies;
• Aggressive upvote boosting. The website constantly improves its anti-fraud system and trains it to detect which upvotes are artificially boosted and which are earned organically;
• Frequent Shadowban checks. Try to minimize this procedure. The logic of the algorithm is as follows: if a user checks for a shadowban too often, it means they are likely performing actions that violate the platform’s rules;
• Spam. Even if you bought a good account with a high karma score, don’t start by publishing 50 posts per day. First, let the profile rest for 24 hours, subscribe to relevant subreddits, and give a few upvotes. Then gradually increase the number of posts up to the platform’s set limits;
• No cookies in the anti-detect browser profile. Recently, the platform has started paying attention to browser history. Before logging into a purchased account, simulate behavioral patterns using warm-up tools. Fortunately, most antidetect browsers offer this feature.

If your account has already been shadowbanned, create a new OnlyFans link. Also, make all the content you receive from the agency unique. For Reddit, it’s enough to process photos or videos through free uniqueness tools in Telegram.

Important: Check the current state of the platform every now and then. If there are widespread outages, there is no point in posting — first, your posts will receive significantly less traffic, and second, during such periods the chance of being shadowbanned is much higher. You can check this using a special Telegram bot — Reddit DownDetector.

What to Do If You’re Shadowbanned

Currently, around 3 out of 10 accounts can be removed from shadowban. However, like any other (almost) free traffic source, Reddit experiences periods of “storms” when the platform tightens its anti-fraud measures and heavily restricts affiliates.

Let’s break down the step-by-step actions in case your account gets shadowbanned:

1. Go to the page designed for submitting an appeal. Important: Log in from the same device/profile in the anti-detect browser that you used to manage the account.
2. Enter your username and write something like this:
   “Hello! My account got shadowbanned. I didn’t use any bots to maintain my account, I only managed it manually and tried to follow the policy. What is the reason for my ban and how can we remove it?”
3. After submitting the appeal, moderators will manually check the account for obvious violations.

This procedure can be repeated once a day. The average unbanning time is around 3–10 hours.

If you operated multiple accounts from the same IP address / anti-detect profile / device, the other accounts will also automatically get shadowbanned. The original account might be restored, but the rest are usually lost.

How to Set Up a Reddit Account for Promotion

First, go into settings and mark the account as intended for adult content.

To do this, open the context menu by clicking on the profile icon in the top-right corner of the page, and click Settings. Then click on your avatar and proceed to account settings.

Then go to the “Profile” tab and enable the toggle “Mark as mature (18+)” — your account is now ready for publishing NSFW content.

A well-crafted profile plays an important role. A detailed and complete profile increases trust among the audience and moderators.

Typically, the account description includes the model’s type, age, interests, and the kind of content being published. If you’re new and don’t yet understand model classifications, reach out to your agency — they will likely guide you.

In case you want to try your hand at driving traffic from TikTok to OF models, check out this article.

In the pinned post, you should place a link to the OnlyFans page along with a native-style call to subscribe. You can find formatting examples by checking out profiles of models with a similar appearance or style.

How Reddit Works: Subreddits, Karma, and Post Visibility

Reddit consists of subreddits — topic-based sections where users interact with each other, post content, and upvote or downvote posts and comments.

In the screenshot below, you can clearly see what a subreddit looks like. It always has a specific name and a set of rules defined by its moderators.

This is where the main difference in working with Reddit lies — unlike other traffic sources where affiliates try to bypass platform rules in every possible way, this approach won’t work here.

If you violate subreddit rules a couple of times, your account can be quickly shadowbanned, so study the rules before posting anything.

Why even bother with driving traffic to OnlyFans models? Because people are willing to pay them. More on why men pay OnlyFans models here.

Common Mistakes When Driving Reddit Traffic

Focusing on post volume instead of post timing

Many beginners assume that more posts → more traffic. On Reddit it’s the opposite. Posting during low-activity hours (early morning US time) usually kills even high-quality content. Most NSFW subreddits peak between 20:00–01:00 EST, and missing this window reduces CTR dramatically.

Ignoring subreddit posting history

Before posting, check the last 20–30 posts in a subreddit:

• Which ones hit the top?
• Which formats get removed?
• How often moderators clean the feed?

Skipping this “feed audit” is one of the fastest ways to burn a karma account.

Using the same caption formula everywhere

NSFW subs have very different engagement patterns. What works in r/RealGirls won’t work in r/GoneWild. Generic captions like “DM me” or “Check my link” often get auto-filtered. Tailored captions that match subreddit tone outperform generic ones by 2–3×.

Posting before warming the audience

Even if your account is warmed, your audience might not be. Subreddits with loyal communities tend to upvote familiar contributors. Posting 1–2 neutral comments before dropping a promo post significantly increases trust.

Deleting posts too quickly

If your post flops, do not delete it instantly. Reddit’s anti-fraud team flags accounts that repeatedly:

• post → get no engagement → delete
  This behavior looks like bot activity. Leave low-performing posts for at least 6–12 hours.

Using identical creatives across multiple subs

Some NSFW communities share active members. If a user sees the same creative repeated across 8–10 subs within hours, they often report it as spam. Changing composition, cropping, or visual style reduces the risk of user reports.

Reddit Account Types for Affiliates: Karma, Age, and Risks

Reddit uses a reputation system for accounts, which consists of Post Karma and Comment Karma. The former is earned from upvotes (similar to likes from other users) on posts, and the latter — on comments.

The karma score affects how many subreddits you can post in. There are subreddits that don’t impose any karma requirements, but competition there is significantly higher.

To post in most subreddits, you’ll need an account with at least 2000+ Post Karma and 500+ Comment Karma, respectively. The average market price is around $50.

At first glance, it may seem too expensive. But if you follow all subreddit rules, such an account can last up to six months, consistently bringing you traffic.

Advantages of karma accounts:

• High level of trust in the eyes of other users, which significantly increases the CR rate;
• Access to a much larger number of subs for posting;
• Higher trust from the platform itself — as a result, the risk of getting shadowbanned is much lower.

The main downside is the inability to change the username. Most sellers generate it automatically, so the profile name may look like a random string of characters. Moderators of some subreddits are suspicious of such accounts, and they may ban them.

Another option is to buy aged accounts without karma (3–5 months old) and gradually build them up to the required score. This process usually takes 2–3 weeks. It’s best to farm karma in neutral subreddits dedicated to memes, pets, and life stories.

Accounts can be purchased on platforms like Reddit Account MarketPlace, AccsMarket, and in Telegram channels.

You can promote AI dating as well. Redditors might like such services as well.

Getting More Upvotes on Reddit Without Getting Banned

Upvotes are the equivalent of likes. The more upvotes your posts receive in a specific subreddit, the higher they will rise in the feed. There are services that boost upvotes — for example, one of the most popular among Reddit marketers is Reddit.Top.Bot. How to properly boost upvotes:

• Boost gradually — limit yourself to 10–20 upvotes per hour at first;
• Pay attention to the number of active users. If there are currently 30 active users, and you boost 50 likes on your post, this will clearly raise red flags for moderators;
• Boosting is only a tool to push the post to the top, not the reason for its success. If your model has good content, upvote boosting will help it reach the top. Don’t make boosting the goal itself — moderators will definitely notice it and ban your account. Usually, 50–70 upvotes are enough to push a post up;
• Choose the right target subreddits. This is arguably one of the most important points. A simple example — if your model has a babyface type, there’s no point in trying to post her in MILF-themed subreddits.

If, after boosting several dozen upvotes, your post still doesn’t gain traction, it means the content wasn’t suitable for that particular subreddit. Change creatives and test different subreddits.

There are places where moderators are more tolerant of upvote boosting. Usually these are smaller subs with less subscribers.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed the Reddit marketing strategy for OnlyFans — from understanding the platform’s structure to finding subreddits with your target audience. The main advantage of this website is that it still remains under the radar for most affiliates, so competition is relatively low.

FAQ