Reddit's ad platform has grown into a serious channel for performance marketers with revenue reaching $1.8 billion in 2025, but the specs and format options can feel scattered across help docs and outdated blog posts. Getting the details wrong means rejected creatives and wasted production time.
This guide covers every Reddit ad format, the exact specifications for each, placement options and templates that speed up production — all in one place.
Reddit offers 10 ad formats, each built for different campaign goals. The platform's community-driven structure means ads appear alongside organic posts in subreddits, so understanding which format fits your objective matters before you start building creatives.
Image ads are the simplest format on Reddit. A single static image appears in users' feeds with a headline and optional description. If you're running brand awareness or traffic campaigns, image ads get the job done without overcomplicating production.
Video ads autoplay in-feed with sound off. Most users scroll without audio, so the visual storytelling carries the weight here. Video works well for product demos or narrative-driven campaigns where motion adds value that a static image can't deliver.
Carousel ads let users swipe through 2–6 images or videos in a single ad unit. E-commerce brands often use carousels to showcase product collections, while other advertisers use the format to walk users through a sequential story.
Free form ads mimic Reddit's native post format. You get space for longer text, multiple images, videos and inline links. Reddit users expect a TL;DR (too long; didn't read) summary at the top of long posts, so leaning into that convention helps your ad feel native.
Conversation ads appear within comment threads rather than the main feed. The placement puts your message in the middle of active discussions, which can feel more organic but requires creative that matches the conversational tone around it.
Product ads pull dynamically from your product catalog. Images, titles and prices update automatically based on your feed, which keeps inventory and pricing accurate without manual updates and can deliver 2x higher ROAS when combined with standard conversion campaigns.
Lead gen ads include native forms within the ad unit. Users submit their information without leaving Reddit, which typically improves conversion rates compared to sending traffic to an external landing page.
AMA stands for "Ask Me Anything," one of Reddit's most iconic formats. AMA ads are designed for interactive community engagement: product launches, expert Q&As or brand storytelling where two-way conversation adds value.
Interactive ads are custom rich media experiences that go beyond standard formats. Building interactive ads typically requires development resources and larger budgets, so they're most common in major brand campaigns.
Reddit Max is an automated campaign type. You provide the creative and objectives, and Reddit's machine learning handles distribution and bidding across multiple placements.
Getting specs right the first time saves you from rejected ads and wasted production cycles. Here's what each format requires.
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Headline | Up to 300 characters |
| Description | Optional, up to 300 characters |
| File formats | JPG, PNG |
| Recommended dimensions | 1200 x 628 pixels (1.91:1 aspect ratio) |
| File size | Up to 20 MB |
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Duration | 5 seconds to 15 minutes |
| File formats | MP4, MOV |
| Resolution | Minimum 720p |
| Aspect ratios | 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 |
| File size | Up to 1 GB |
| Thumbnail | Required, same specs as image ads |
Shorter videos tend to perform better for engagement. Your thumbnail drives clicks since videos autoplay muted, so the opening frame matters more than you might expect.
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Number of cards | 2–6 |
| Image specs per card | 1080 x 1080 pixels (1:1) |
| Headline per card | Up to 300 characters |
| File formats | JPG, PNG |
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Body text | Up to 40,000 characters |
| Images | Up to 20 images, same specs as image ads |
| Videos | Same specs as video ads |
| Formatting | Headings, bold, italic, line breaks supported |
Free form gives you the most flexibility of any Reddit ad format. Use it when you have a story worth telling in detail.
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Headline | Up to 300 characters |
| Thumbnail | 1200 x 628 pixels |
| Placement | Within comment threads only |
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Catalog feed | Required, formatted to Reddit's specifications |
| Image specs | 1:1 aspect ratio recommended |
| Text fields | Pulled dynamically from catalog |
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Headline | Up to 300 characters |
| Body text | Varies by AMA type |
| Format options | Profile AMA or community AMA |
Placement determines context, and context shapes how users respond to your ads. Reddit offers several placement options that affect where and how your ads show up.
Feed placements put your ads in the main content stream as users scroll through subreddits or their home feed. This is where most impressions come from and the highest-volume placement available.
Conversation placements position ads within comment sections of posts. Your ad appears alongside active discussion, which can feel more relevant but also means your creative competes with the surrounding conversation for attention.
Reddit renders ads in two visual treatments depending on user settings and context:
You can't control which treatment users see, so designing for both scenarios helps ensure your ad looks good either way.
Beyond self-serve options, Reddit offers premium placements for brands with larger budgets and bigger campaign moments.
A Takeover gives you full-site dominance: banner ads, promoted posts and premium positioning across Reddit. This format works for major product launches or announcements where maximum visibility is the goal.
Category Takeovers let you own a specific interest area. If you're targeting gaming enthusiasts or finance communities, this placement ensures your brand dominates that vertical for a set period.
First View places your ad as the first thing users see when opening the Reddit app. It's a high-attention placement that works well for time-sensitive campaigns or launches.
Manually resizing creatives for every Reddit spec adds up fast, especially when you're producing variations across multiple formats. Templates pre-built to Reddit's requirements eliminate that friction.
Pre-sized templates include safe zones for text and key visual elements. You know exactly where to place your headline and CTA without guessing whether important content will get cropped.
Video templates come with correct aspect ratios and duration guides built in. They also account for thumbnail frame selection, which matters since thumbnails drive clicks on muted autoplay videos.
Multi-frame templates maintain visual consistency across cards. This is especially useful when you're telling a sequential story or showcasing a product line where each card builds on the last.
Structured templates for long-form content help you organize headings, images and body text in a way that matches Reddit's native post style.
Tip: The Brief's templates are pre-built to Reddit specs, so your team can produce compliant creatives without bottlenecking designers or second-guessing dimensions.
Reddit has its own culture. Ads that ignore platform norms tend to underperform compared to ads that feel native to the community.
Overly polished, corporate-looking ads often feel out of place on Reddit. Users value authenticity, so creative that looks like it belongs in the feed typically performs better than creative that screams "advertisement."
Most Reddit traffic comes from mobile devices. Text legibility at smaller sizes and image composition that works in a vertical scroll both matter more here than on desktop-first platforms.
Reddit users scan quickly and have low tolerance for marketing jargon. Direct, honest language created with the right copywriting approach outperforms corporate speak.
Running different headlines, images and formats helps you identify what resonates with your target communities. A/B testing is how you move from guessing to knowing.
Reddit's community-based structure means context relevance drives engagement. An ad that works in r/technology might fall flat in r/fitness, so tailoring creative to the subreddit matters.
Since videos autoplay muted, your thumbnail carries the burden of capturing attention for the 78% of viewers who expect video ads to work without sound through visual cues alone. It communicates your message visually before anyone decides to tap.
Reddit offers two paths depending on your budget and campaign complexity.
The self-service ads manager gives you direct control over campaign setup, targeting and budgets. It's accessible to advertisers of all sizes and offers flexibility for testing different approaches.
For larger budgets, Reddit's managed service provides dedicated support and access to premium inventory like Takeovers. This is the route for brands running significant spend or complex multi-format campaigns.
Building Reddit ads to spec across multiple formats, placements and variations adds up. The Brief's templates are pre-built to Reddit's exact specifications, and AI-powered resizing eliminates the manual work that typically bottlenecks creative teams.
Instead of hunting for the right dimensions or rebuilding assets for each format, your team can focus on strategy and creative quality. The production grind? That's handled.
CTR varies based on ad format, targeting and creative quality. Reddit doesn't publish official benchmarks, but advertisers typically see engagement rates comparable to other social platforms when creative follows platform conventions.
Yes. Reddit's ad system supports running multiple creative variations within a single campaign, so you can test different headlines, images and formats to identify top performers.
Reddit accepts MP4 and MOV file formats for video ads. Videos also have resolution and file size requirements outlined in the video ad specs section above.
Reddit video ads can run up to 15 minutes, though shorter videos typically perform better. Most successful video ads fall in the 15–30 second range.
Ads that don't meet Reddit's specifications get rejected during the review process. You'll revise and resubmit compliant creatives before the ad can run.
Yes. Reddit product ads connect to product catalogs and dynamically pull product information including images, titles and prices. Your catalog has to meet Reddit's feed formatting requirements.
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