# How to monitor a subreddit for new posts

Canonical: https://redwatcher.com/how-to-monitor-a-subreddit-for-new-posts

**In short**

**To hear about the new posts in one subreddit that concern you, put that subreddit in a
Redwatcher project with your keywords.** Reddit cannot filter a community by a word. Redwatcher
reads that subreddit's posts and comments around the clock and sends the matching threads that
reach the score you set, not every new post.

Redwatcher is a Reddit monitoring tool. Tracks keywords, brand mentions and competitors across the
subreddits you choose, scores every match for relevance, and alerts by email, Slack, Telegram or
webhook around the clock. From $29/month per project. A subreddit is one of Reddit's communities,
such as r/smallbusiness, with its own posts and the comments under them. A project is one set of
keywords, subreddits, a score and alert channels, and each project has its own price. A project can
watch a single subreddit.

[Start free](https://app.redwatcher.com/signup) Seven days, no card. From $29 a month after.
[See pricing](/pricing)

## Can Reddit notify you of new posts in a subreddit?

Reddit can notify you about replies to your own posts and about activity in a subreddit you have
joined, but it cannot tell you when a post or comment in that subreddit contains a word you chose.

| You want to know when… | Reddit itself | Redwatcher |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Someone replies to your post or comment | Yes | No |
| There is activity in a community you have joined | Yes, from your Reddit notification settings | No |
| **A post or comment in that community contains your keyword** | **No** | **Yes, for the threads that reach the score you set** |
| A match comes with a score and the reasons for it | No | Yes, from 0 to 100 |

Redwatcher only reads the community, and you write any reply yourself. Redwatcher also does not
send every new post in a subreddit.

## Step 1: Put the one subreddit on the project's list

To watch a single community, type its name in the Subreddits step of setup, the steps Redwatcher
walks you through when you create a project, and remove every other subreddit there. The step takes
one community per line, as a name, as r/name or as the full address. Setup also proposes subreddits
from your website address, and if the one you want is not proposed, the Suggest more button offers
further subreddits.

Each subreddit is checked against Reddit as you accept it, so the list holds a community that exists and
is still active. A project then reads nothing outside that list, however well a thread elsewhere
would match.

![The Subreddits step of Redwatcher's setup: six suggested subreddits in the box, seven already saved, and a line showing how many the project covers](img/product-subreddits.png "**The Subreddits step of setup.** One community per line, checked against Reddit as you accept it. The example project keeps several, and watching one community means keeping only that one.")

## Step 2: Choose the words that matter in that subreddit

Add your brand and the spellings people use for it, your competitors, and the phrases people write
when they have the problem you solve. A match is a new post or comment in your subreddit that
contains one of those words. Every keyword is checked in posts and in comments, so a mention deep in
a reply is found the same way as one in a post title.

Setup suggests all three groups from your website, so you edit a list instead of writing one. Each
competitor you track counts as one keyword against the plan's allowance. A list of words to ignore
sits under the keyword box, and anything containing one of them is not scored and does not reach the
inbox, the list in the app where every match is kept with its score. The panel's own examples are *hiring*, *salary* and *coupon*. Keep that list short, because
one common word on it drops every thread that contains it. [Reddit keyword
alerts](/reddit-keyword-alerts) covers phrases, spellings and words to ignore in full.

![Redwatcher's setup asking which words to watch for, with the keyword box, the plan's keyword count and the suggestions it added](img/product-keywords.png "**The words to watch for in your subreddit.** Your own phrases in the box, the suggestions proposed from your site underneath, and the count against your plan.")

## Step 3: Set the score a thread must reach

Start at 70. Every match is scored from 0 to 100 for how closely the thread fits what you want to
hear about, with the reasons beside the number, and only the threads that reach the score you set
are sent. A match below the score stays in the inbox, and it is counted there.

In a single busy subreddit, a broad keyword can match many threads that have nothing to do with you.
The score is what keeps those out of your alerts without removing the keyword. Write a rule or two in
plain language, such as *ignore job posts*. A rule is a sentence every match is scored against, so
with that one a job post scores low. Setup suggests more rules from your site. When a score is
wrong later, you say what was wrong and it becomes a rule.

![Redwatcher's setup asking how picky the scoring should be, with rules written in plain language and two suggestions to add](img/product-scoring-setup.png "**The rules the score is judged against.** Written as sentences, with suggestions drawn from your site.")

## Step 4: Connect a channel and send a test

Connect one channel on the Setup screen, the page in the app that holds a project's keywords,
subreddits, score and channels, then press its test button. Slack connects with Add to Slack,
Telegram with Connect Telegram and then Start, and email with an address. A webhook sends each
thread that reaches the score you set as data to a URL on your own system, and you connect it by pasting that URL. All four are on
every plan. The test button sends a real message, so you know the channel works before a real
thread arrives.

| Channel | What arrives |
| --- | --- |
| Slack | One message per thread, in the channel you pick |
| Telegram | One message per thread, in the chat with the Redwatcher bot |
| Webhook | One message per thread, as data at your URL |
| Email | One message per check, carrying the threads from that check |

A check is one pass over your subreddit, and Redwatcher runs them around the clock, multiple times
every hour. Median freshness is about 15 minutes. By default a thread is sent once, so a later
comment that matches in a thread already sent is not sent again.

## What should the first week of watching one subreddit look like?

Day one is often quiet. Redwatcher reads new threads from the moment setup finishes, so the first
alerts come from posts and comments written after that.

Over the next days, open the inbox as well as your alerts. The matches below the score are there
with their reasons, and reading a few shows whether the score is too strict or a keyword is too
broad.

![The Redwatcher inbox for an example project: a thread scored 94, a competitor comparison scored 88, and a job post scored 24 and skipped, each with the reasons underneath](img/product-inbox.png "**Every match carries its score.** The term that matched is highlighted in the title, the reasons sit under it, and a thread below the score you set is skipped and counted in the inbox.")

Each time you say what was wrong with a score, the rule it becomes is listed on the Setup screen,
and you can edit it there by hand. If the community you picked turns out to bring nothing useful, swap it for another on the same screen.

## Why are no alerts arriving from the subreddit?

When nothing arrives, the cause is usually one of four things: the subreddit is quiet, the keywords
are too narrow, the score is set too high, or the channel is not connected. Check them in that
order.

**The subreddit is quiet.** The Stats screen in the app shows how much of the subreddit was read,
with comments and posts counted separately, and every check, hour by hour. A community with
few posts a day will not produce many matches, whatever the keywords are.

**The keywords are too narrow.** A new brand gets few mentions. Add the phrases people use for the
problem, which they write long before they know your name.

**The score is set too high.** At 90, only threads that fit what you described almost exactly are
sent. Look at what is waiting in the inbox below the score, then set it to 70.

**The channel is not connected.** Press the channel's test button on the Setup screen. If no test
message arrives, connect the channel again. If the test arrives and the alerts do not, delivery works
and the cause is one of the three above.

![Redwatcher's Stats screen: a Healthy line saying every subreddit due to be checked was checked, the share of comments and posts checked, and a bar for every check hour by hour](img/product-stats.png "**The Stats screen.** Whether the subreddit is being checked, how much of it was read, comments and posts separately, and every check hour by hour.")

[Start free](https://app.redwatcher.com/signup) Seven days, no card. From $29 a month after.
[The full setup guide](/how-to-set-up-reddit-alerts)

## What does watching one subreddit cost, and is there a free way?

Watching one subreddit with Redwatcher costs $29 a month for the project, the smallest plan, which
allows 25 keywords and 25 subreddits. The $49 plan allows 50 of each and the $89 plan 100 of each.
A large subreddit costs the same to watch as a small one, and there is no charge per mention. Every
plan includes every feature, with no limit on how many team members you add, and every project
starts with a seven-day trial that takes no card. Redwatcher has no free plan, so the free way is
reading the subreddit yourself. Prices from [redwatcher.com/pricing](/pricing), read on 3 October
2026.

## How this guide was checked

Redwatcher wrote this guide about its own product. On 3 October 2026 we tried to read Reddit Help's
articles on notifications and on joining a community, and the site refused the request, so what this
guide says about Reddit's own notifications repeats what [How to get Reddit notifications for
keywords](/how-to-get-reddit-notifications-for-keywords) recorded from Reddit Help on 3 October 2026
and stops there. That guide read Reddit Help's [How do I opt in or out of
notifications?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043034552-How-do-I-opt-in-or-out-of-notifications)
and [How do I turn off trending
notifications?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043033972-How-do-I-turn-off-trending-notifications)
on 3 October 2026, and this guide repeats those two articles and nothing else about Reddit's
notifications. We read the prices on redwatcher.com/pricing the same day. We did not open Reddit's apps or
its website settings. The screenshots are Redwatcher's own setup, inbox and Stats screens with
example data, and none of them is a project watching a single subreddit.

## Watching one subreddit: questions people ask

### Can Redwatcher send every new post in a subreddit?
Redwatcher does not send every new post in a subreddit. A post or comment is a match when it
contains one of your keywords, your brand or a competitor, and only the threads that reach the score
you set are sent. Matches below the score stay in the inbox with their reasons. Reddit's own
notifications cover replies to your posts and activity in communities you have joined.

### Does monitoring one subreddit include the comments?
Comments are read as well as posts, on every plan. Every keyword is checked in the new posts and the
new comments of the subreddit you chose. A match in a comment carries the comment with the matched
word highlighted, the score and the reasons, and a link to the thread, the same as a match in a
post. By default a thread is sent once.

### Can I get alerts for one subreddit only?
Yes. Keep only that subreddit in the project, and only threads posted there can be sent. Each
keyword is then matched in that subreddit's new posts and new comments, and each match is scored
from 0 to 100. The threads that reach the score you set go to email, Slack, Telegram or a webhook,
and the rest stay in the inbox.

### How quickly will I hear about a new post in the subreddit?
Redwatcher checks the subreddit around the clock, multiple times every hour, on every plan, and
median freshness is about 15 minutes. A thread that reaches the score you set is sent as soon as the
check that found it has scored it. Slack, Telegram and the webhook get one message per thread. Email gets one
message per check, carrying the threads from that check.

### Can I add a second subreddit later?
Subreddits are added or removed at any time on the Setup screen, one per line, as a name, as r/name
or as the full address. A subreddit you add is checked against Reddit as you accept it, and one you
remove stops being read. The $29 plan holds up to 25 subreddits, and every keyword is checked in
every subreddit on the list.

### Is there a free way to monitor a subreddit for keywords?
Reddit has no keyword filter on a community's posts, so the free way is reading the subreddit
yourself. Redwatcher has no free plan. A project starts with a seven-day trial that takes no card,
then costs $29 a month for 25 keywords and 25 subreddits, $49 for 50 of each, and $89 for 100 of
each. Prices read on redwatcher.com/pricing on 3 October 2026.

/how-to-monitor-multiple-subreddits | How to monitor multiple subreddits | Building a list of communities for one project, and keeping each one useful.
/how-to-monitor-reddit-comments | How to monitor Reddit comments | Finding the mentions that sit in replies under a post.
/how-to-get-reddit-notifications-for-keywords | How to get Reddit notifications for keywords | Getting each thread that reaches the score you set onto your phone.
/subreddit-tracker | Subreddit tracker | How Redwatcher reads the subreddits you choose, and what the Stats screen shows.
/how-to-set-up-reddit-alerts | How to set up Reddit alerts | The setup steps in full, from an empty account to a tested channel.
/pricing | What it costs | The plans, what each one includes, and how keywords and subreddits are counted.

---

*Reddit is a trademark of Reddit, Inc. Redwatcher is not affiliated with or endorsed by Reddit, Inc.*

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "@id": "https://redwatcher.com/#org",
      "name": "Redwatcher",
      "url": "https://redwatcher.com/",
      "logo": {
        "@type": "ImageObject",
        "url": "https://redwatcher.com/redwatcher-icon.svg"
      },
      "description": "Redwatcher is a Reddit monitoring tool that scores every keyword match for relevance before it alerts you."
    },
    {
      "@type": [
        "WebPage",
        "Article"
      ],
      "@id": "https://redwatcher.com/how-to-monitor-a-subreddit-for-new-posts",
      "url": "https://redwatcher.com/how-to-monitor-a-subreddit-for-new-posts",
      "name": "How to monitor a subreddit for new posts and comments",
      "headline": "How to monitor a subreddit for new posts",
      "description": "Reddit has no keyword filter for one community. Watch a single subreddit for your keywords, in posts and comments, with a score on each.",
      "datePublished": "2026-10-03",
      "dateModified": "2026-10-03",
      "inLanguage": "en",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://redwatcher.com/#org"
      },
      "author": {
        "@id": "https://redwatcher.com/#org"
      },
      "isPartOf": {
        "@type": "WebSite",
        "name": "Redwatcher",
        "url": "https://redwatcher.com/"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://redwatcher.com/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "How to monitor a subreddit for new posts",
          "item": "https://redwatcher.com/how-to-monitor-a-subreddit-for-new-posts"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```