About r/explainlikeimfive
In its own words:
Explain Like I'm Five is the best forum and archive on the internet for layperson-friendly explanations. Don't Panic!
The community was created on Jul 28, 2011, which makes it 15 years old. Since Oct 19, 2026, it has gained 7,095 subscribers (+0.03%). It sits just behind r/GetMotivated (#25) and ahead of r/LifeProTips (#27) in our ranking.
What sets r/explainlikeimfive apart
Compared with other large communities, r/explainlikeimfive leans heavily on text posts (100% of recent posts; the typical Top 100 subreddit sits at 17%). Its rhythm is strongly tied to time zones: the busiest hour (15:00 UTC) sees about 5.8× as many posts as the quietest (01:00 UTC).
Subscriber growth
Between Sep 19, 2026 and Oct 29, 2026, r/explainlikeimfive climbed from 23,667,014 to 23,693,569 subscribers (+26.6K, +0.11%). That is about 664 new members per day. The chart uses our weekly snapshots (8 so far), so it gets longer every week.
Top posts on r/explainlikeimfive this week
What the community upvoted most over the last seven days, as ranked by Reddit (collected Oct 29, 2026).
- Eli5 Why do barbers rub their razors against a leather strap. What does a leather strop do to the razor?u/arztnur · Oct 26 · text post
- ELI5: If muscle is so essential to human health and longevity, why is it so difficult to gain and maintain?u/Hellalazyusername · Oct 27 · text post
- ELI5 How do morbidly obese people’s bones not just break under all of the weight they carry on them?u/Silly-Energy-1577 · Oct 26 · text post
- ELI5: Why is alcohol withdraw so potentially deadly?u/AlwaysABD · Oct 25 · text post
- ELI5 Why do some musical chords sound sad and some sound happy? Is it learned or do our brains come this way from the factory?u/DawggFish · Oct 26 · text post
- ELI5 Portable high-speed turbo fans.u/jackhab · Oct 23 · text post
- ELI5: Why are squids unaffected by water pressure but fish not?u/Bijstaander · Oct 25 · text post
- ELI5: If a surgery has a 1% risk of death, does that mean 1 out of every 100 people who get the surgery will die?u/Weak-Hamster- · Oct 26 · text post
- ELI5: What is the difference between a Sherrif department and a Police department.u/PizzaLikerFan · Oct 27 · text post
- ELI5: If we can broadcast information wirelessly through an entire house, like WIFI, Bluetooth, why can't we broadcast enough energy to charge every phone in it, without cables, charging pads, or eve…u/Kingsley_Holness · Oct 27 · text post
All-time top posts
The highest-ranked posts in the history of r/explainlikeimfive, from 2016 to 2025, ranked by Reddit.
- ELI5:How after 5000 years of humanity surviving off of bread do we have so many people within the last decade who are entirely allergic to gluten?u/Addacus117 · May 31, 2017 · 44,418 points · 590 comments · text post
- ELI5: It's with a heavy heart that we have an announcementu/ntengineer · May 5, 2025 · text post
- We call upon Reddit to take action against the rampant Coronavirus misinformation on their website.u/ELI5_Modteam · Aug 25, 2021 · 42,257 points · 2 comments · link
- ELI5: How did we get to the point where laptops and smartphones are in the same price range?u/Bethelyhills · Aug 30, 2019 · 39,173 points · 3,460 comments · text post
- ELI5: Stock Market Megathreadu/ELI5_Modteam · Jan 28, 2021 · text post
- ELI5: So how does the the human brain ignore the second the?u/saviounderscore · Apr 16, 2020 · 36,885 points · 1,405 comments · text post
- ELI5: Why can people walk many miles without discomfort, but when they stand for more than 15 minutes or so, they get uncomfortable?u/mynameispineapplejoe · Jun 26, 2017 · 39,149 points · 1,430 comments · text post
- ELI5: There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There are also infinite numbers between 0 and 2. There would more numbers between 0 and 2. How can a set of infinite numbers be bigger than another i…u/YeetandMeme · Jun 16, 2020 · text post
- ELI5 Why is 12 hour time even taught? Wouldn’t it just be easier to remember 13:00 instead of 1:00pm?u/GamerOfGods33 · Jul 16, 2020 · text post
- ELI5: Military officers swear to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not the Presidentu/another_one_23 · Jan 31, 2017 · 34,387 points · 2,546 comments · text post
What r/explainlikeimfive talks about
Looking at the titles of 535 recent posts (Oct 21–Oct 28), the words that come up most are “eli5”, “work”, “actually”, “php” and “water”. Other frequent themes are feel, internet, explain, different, exactly and difference. Recurring phrases include “php vulnerability”, “actually work”, “social media” and “water pressure”. By format, 100% are text posts and 0% are links.
Popular post flairs: Other (152), Biology (133), Technology (108), Economics (38), Physics (35), Chemistry (19).
Activity and best time to post
r/explainlikeimfive gets about 77 new posts a day. The public archive holds 2,018,702 posts and 21,255,721 comments in total, about 10.5 comments per post. Last week the busiest day was Saturday (98 posts) and the quietest was Sunday (61). Posting peaks around 15:00 UTC and is lowest around 01:00 UTC.
Rules of r/explainlikeimfive
The moderators of r/explainlikeimfive list 11 rules. In short:
- Be Civil
- All submissions must seek objective explanations
- Top-level comments must be written explanations
- Explain for laypeople (but not actual 5-year-olds)
- ELI5 is for factual information, not opinions
- Loaded questions are not allowed
- Search before posting; don't repeat old posts
- Don't guess
- Don't try to trick the bot
- Posts must begin with "ELI5:"
How to join
Open reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive and press “Join”. Read the community rules in the sidebar before you post: every subreddit is run by its own volunteer moderators.
Frequently asked questions
How many subscribers does r/explainlikeimfive have?
r/explainlikeimfive has 23,693,569 subscribers (Oct 29, 2026), which makes it the #26 safe-for-work subreddit in the SubMouse ranking. It added 26,555 members between Sep 19, 2026 and Oct 29, 2026.
How old is r/explainlikeimfive?
r/explainlikeimfive was created on Jul 28, 2011, so it has been around for 15 years.
How active is r/explainlikeimfive?
Very active: r/explainlikeimfive gets about 77 new posts a day (average of the last four weeks). Over its lifetime the archive counts 2,018,702 posts and 21,255,721 comments. In a sample of 535 recent posts we counted 421 different authors.
When is r/explainlikeimfive most active?
Based on post counts from Oct 21, 2026 to Oct 27, 2026, the busiest day was Saturday and the quietest Sunday, and most posts arrive around 15:00 UTC, with the fewest around 01:00 UTC. More posts also means more competition, so a quieter hour can help a post get noticed.
What is r/explainlikeimfive about?
The community describes itself as: “Explain Like I'm Five is the best forum and archive on the internet for layperson-friendly explanations. Don't Panic!” Recent post titles often mention eli5, work, actually, php and water. Most posts are text posts (100%).
Is r/explainlikeimfive safe for work?
Yes. Reddit does not mark r/explainlikeimfive as an 18+ (NSFW) community. SubMouse lists safe-for-work subreddits only.
How do I post on r/explainlikeimfive?
Join the community on Reddit first, then use “Create post”. r/explainlikeimfive accepts text posts only. It has 11 posted rules, starting with: “Be Civil”; “All submissions must seek objective explanations”; “Top-level comments must be written explanations”. Moderators remove posts that break the rules, so read them in the sidebar before posting.
Which communities are like r/explainlikeimfive?
Communities with similar topics include r/AskReddit (60M), r/mildlyinteresting (25.4M), r/WritingPrompts (18.9M), r/gaming (47.4M) and r/funny (67.6M).
Stats from public data (data updated Oct 29, 2026; activity, rules and archive totals via the Arctic Shift archive, Oct 29, 2026; top posts from Reddit’s public feeds). Point and comment counts are archive snapshots and can be lower than on Reddit today. SubMouse is an independent directory and is not affiliated with Reddit or the moderators of r/explainlikeimfive.