Reddit markdown formatter: write, preview and check a comment

From August 16 to November 13, 2026, CommunityMentions placed 5,398 Reddit comments for 76 client brands in 2,026 subreddits, each one checked on its thread after posting. The median comment ran 46 words, and half of them ran between 37 and 60 words. Only 0.1% ran 120 words or more.

71.6% were a single paragraph. 0.1% used any Markdown at all (bold, a list, a quote, a heading or code), and none of them carried a link. They read like a person answering a question.

These are comments we wrote, so the numbers show our own style. They are not a study of every comment on Reddit. Formatting earns its place in a long post, a step-by-step answer or a price table; in a short reply, plain text is what our placed comments used.

Every row follows Reddit's own Formatting Guide (read November 12, 2026). On the website, choose the Markdown editor in the comment box before you type these; the Rich Text editor formats with buttons instead.

Old Reddit still runs an older Markdown parser, and Reddit's guide lists the syntax that only works on www.reddit.com. The formatter flags each of these by line number:

• Code fences (``` or ~~~). Old Reddit needs every code line indented by 4 spaces.
• A backslash at the end of a line for a line break. Old Reddit needs two spaces.
• Numbered lists written 1), 2). Old Reddit needs 1., 2.
• Superscript with ^(several words). Put a caret before each word instead.
• Link titles in parentheses. Use double quotes: [text](https://example.com "title").
• Bold inside italics, like _this is __really__ important_.

Two more: a space between [text] and (url) breaks the link on new Reddit, and table rows without a pipe at each end can be misread on either version. "Make it old-Reddit safe" rewrites the first five automatically and removes the space in links; nested emphasis and table pipes you fix by hand.

The preview shows your text the way Reddit renders it: spoilers stay hidden until you hover or tap them here, r/ and u/ names turn into links, and a single line break joins two lines into one paragraph, exactly as it does on Reddit.

Words, paragraphs and links are counted from your Markdown. The length line places your word count against the 5,398 comments we placed: under 37 words is shorter than 3 in 4 of them, 37 to 60 is the middle half, and over 76 is longer than 9 in 10.

The old Reddit check lists each line that renders differently on old.reddit.com, with the fix. No list means both versions should show the same thing.

The example in the box is 73 words in 5 paragraphs with 1 link. That is longer than 3 in 4 of the comments we placed (a quarter ran over 60 words). The check flags line 11: it ends with a backslash, so old Reddit would run "Edit:" onto the same line. Press "Make it old-Reddit safe" and the backslash becomes two spaces; the preview stays the same and the warning clears. Cut the list to one sentence and drop the quote, and the reply lands near the 46-word median of the comments we placed.

The preview runs in your browser with a Markdown renderer written to Reddit's Formatting Guide (read November 12, 2026): emphasis, strikethrough, spoilers, superscript, inline code, code blocks, headings, lists with sublists, quotes, tables with alignment, links, reference links, r/ and u/ links, line breaks, horizontal lines and backslash escapes. Raw HTML tags are shown as text here, never run. Your text is not submitted to us; the preview and checks run on your device.

The comment numbers come from the CommunityMentions delivery database, read November 14, 2026: every Reddit comment marked verified (checked on its thread after posting) with a creation date from August 16 to November 13, 2026, 5,398 comments for 76 client brands. Words are counted as runs of text between spaces; a paragraph is text between blank lines. Only totals are published, never a comment or a client.

It can't tell you whether a subreddit allows your post. Each community sets its own rules on links and self-promotion, and moderators enforce them on top of Reddit's. Some third-party apps also render Markdown their own way. Read the sidebar, then use the best time to post on Reddit to time it, and how to do Reddit marketing without it reading as spam for the wording.

Find where to post with the subreddit finder, see which communities AI answers cite in the subreddit list, or browse every tool on the free Reddit tools page.

• Reddit Help: Formatting Guide, read November 12, 2026: the syntax, the old Reddit compatibility notes and the table rules.
• CommunityMentions delivery database, read November 14, 2026: 5,398 verified Reddit comments for 76 client brands in 2,026 subreddits, August 16 to November 13, 2026.