Do Reddit Awards Give Karma? Complete Guide

Someone just gave your post a Gold award. You're excited — that must mean extra karma, right?

The answer is more complicated than it should be. Reddit's award system has changed multiple times, and what awards actually give you in 2026 is different from what they gave in 2020. Here's the complete breakdown.

Do Awards Give Karma? The Short Answer

Yes, but in a separate category.

When you receive an award, you get "Awardee Karma" — a distinct karma type tracked separately from your post and comment karma.

Karma Type	Source	Practical Use
Post Karma	Upvotes on posts	Subreddit requirements, trust signals
Comment Karma	Upvotes on comments	Subreddit requirements, trust signals
Awardee Karma	Receiving awards	Mostly cosmetic
Awarder Karma	Giving awards	Mostly cosmetic

The awardee karma shows on your profile breakdown but typically doesn't count toward subreddit karma requirements.

Award Types and Karma Amounts

Reddit has restructured its award system several times. Here's the current landscape:

Award Tier	Approximate Awardee Karma	Other Benefits
Free awards	0-10	Recognition only
Silver/Basic	10-25	Recognition
Gold	25-100	Week of Premium, coins
Platinum	100-200	Month of Premium, coins
Argentium	500+	3 months Premium, coins
Ternion	1,000+	6 months Premium, coins

Note: Reddit doesn't publish exact karma values, and these have changed over time. The relative scale is accurate, but specific numbers may vary.

What Awards Actually Give You

Beyond karma, awards provide other benefits:

For Receiving Gold:

• One week of Reddit Premium
• 100 Reddit Coins
• Awardee karma
• Visual award on your content

For Receiving Platinum:

• One month of Reddit Premium
• 700 Reddit Coins
• Awardee karma
• Visual award on your content

For Receiving Higher Awards:

• Extended Premium periods
• More coins
• More awardee karma
• Exclusive awards to give others

Award	Premium Duration	Coins Given
Gold	1 week	100
Platinum	1 month	700
Argentium	3 months	2,500
Ternion	6 months	5,000

Do Awards Boost Post Visibility?

This is a common belief: awarded posts get pushed higher in feeds.

The truth: There's no confirmed algorithmic boost. However:

• Awards make posts visually stand out
• Users may be more likely to engage with awarded content
• The perception of quality can influence voting behavior

Factor	Confirmed Effect
Algorithmic ranking boost	Not confirmed
Visual prominence	Yes
Social proof effect	Likely
Engagement increase	Indirect

The Evolution of Reddit Awards

Understanding the history helps explain the current confusion:

Pre-2018: Only Gold existed. Simple system.

2018: Reddit introduced Silver, Platinum, and community awards. Expanded options, more complexity.

2019-2022: Hundreds of award types proliferated. Confusing but varied.

2023: Reddit simplified the award system, removing many awards and changing how they work.

2024-2026: Current streamlined system with fewer tiers but clearer values.

Each change affected how karma from awards works, which is why older guides often have outdated information.

Why Awardee Karma Doesn't Count for Requirements

Subreddits that require karma typically specify comment karma, post karma, or total karma — but they almost always exclude awardee karma from the calculation.

Why?

• Award karma can be purchased (give yourself awards via alt account)
• It doesn't demonstrate community engagement
• It's trivially manipulatable

Requirement Type	Does Awardee Karma Count?
"100 karma required"	Usually no
"Comment karma only"	No
"Post karma only"	No
"Total karma"	Sometimes partially

If a subreddit's rules don't specify, assume awardee karma doesn't help.

Awards You Give: Awarder Karma

When you give an award, you earn "Awarder Karma."

This:

• Shows you've contributed to the award economy
• Appears in your profile breakdown
• Doesn't unlock subreddits
• Requires spending coins (and therefore money or earned coins)

Action	Awarder Karma Earned
Give free award	~5-10
Give Silver	~10-25
Give Gold	~50-100
Give Platinum	~100-200

Awarder karma is even less useful than awardee karma for practical purposes.

Are Awards Worth Caring About?

For most Reddit users, awards are nice bonuses but not strategy:

Purpose	Award Value
Subreddit access	Low (doesn't usually count)
Trust signaling	Low (can be bought)
Premium access	Moderate (if you'd pay anyway)
Recognition	Personal (feels good)
Account building	Very low

The coins and Premium time from Gold/Platinum can be valuable if you'd otherwise pay for them. The karma is mostly decorative.

The Real Karma That Matters

While awards give karma, the karma that actually matters for Reddit functionality is:

1. Comment karma — Opens the most subreddits, shows engagement
2. Post karma — Shows content creation, some requirements specify it
3. Account age — Not karma, but often more important than karma

Awardee and awarder karma are tertiary at best.

Karma Priority	Why
Comment karma (high)	Most requirements, best engagement signal
Post karma (high)	Content requirements, visibility
Account age (very high)	Trust systems, can't be rushed
Awardee karma (low)	Mostly cosmetic
Awarder karma (very low)	Shows spending, not engagement

Final Thoughts

Reddit awards do give karma — just not the kind that usually matters. Awardee karma is a separate bucket that most subreddit requirements ignore, and it doesn't contribute to the trust signals that Reddit's systems actually use.

The valuable parts of awards are the Premium time and coins, not the karma. If someone awards your post, enjoy it — but don't count on it for account building.

At CertifiedKarma, we focus on accounts with the karma that actually counts: comment karma, post karma, and real account age. These are the metrics that unlock subreddits and signal trustworthiness. Awards are nice decoration on top of that foundation.

References

1. Reddit Help Center. "What are awards?" Official explanation.
2. Reddit. "Reworking Awarding." 2023 announcement.
3. Reddit Help Center. "What is Reddit Premium?" Premium benefits.