Qiita
Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.
Overview
Qiita is a Japanese platform for recording and sharing knowledge about programming. It describes itself this way: "Qiita is a service for recording and sharing knowledge related to engineers", and dates its launch to 11 September 2011. The operator is Qiita Inc., part of the Ateam group.
The setup is simple: Markdown articles with syntax highlighting, tags, likes, "stocks" (bookmarks), questions and answers, slides, and Organization — a company section that employees' articles are tied to. A separate product, Qiita Team, is a private corporate knowledge base built on the same engine.
The key feature for a marketer: Qiita restricts promotional posts severely but sells advertising itself. Understanding where the line runs matters more here than on most platforms.
Who's here
The audience is Japanese: the interface, the help centre and the terms are in Japanese, and the markup language of the home page is ja. An English version exists only for the "About" page.
The platform publishes numbers in its advertising section: 1.5 million registered members and more than 8 million unique visitors a month, plus about 65% of the audience take part in decisions about adopting tools — either making the decision or influencing it. These are the platform's own statements in a marketing context. Qiita itself adds the caveat about its status as "the largest": the comparison was made against data from the 2020 edition of the "IT Human Resources White Paper".
Note a discrepancy within the site: the "About" page reports "more than 6 million users a month" with the note "as of February 2021", while the advertising section reports 8 million with no date. These are different measurements from different years.
Who the platform counts as its audience is spelled out in the rules: an "engineer" is "a person who applies knowledge and experience of programming", including those who are still learning.
Getting started
Registration is free and gives you publishing articles in Markdown with syntax highlighting, limited access by link, edit requests on other people's articles, questions, likes, stocks, a feed and subscriptions to users and tags. Linking external accounts and two-factor authentication are available — both appear in the settings section of the help centre.
The key profile metric is Contribution. The help centre gives the exact weights: a like on your article — 1, publishing an article — 1, a like on your comment — 0.5, a stock of your article — 0.5, a comment on an article — 0.1, an accepted edit request — 1 (since 1 April 2022; previously 5), sending an edit request — 0.2, a like on your answer — 0.5, publishing an answer — 0.2, a like on your question — 0.2, publishing a question — 0.1, a like on your stock list — 0.2.
For companies the way in is an Organization. The rules stipulate that behaviour on behalf of an Organization is subject to the same requirements.
What you can publish
The formats: articles, questions and answers, slides (including Marp import), stock lists; a separate mechanism is the Advent Calendar. All of it is in the help centre's table of contents.
What counts as a good article is described separately: a specific, short title instead of "a note about Ruby", a description of the environment and versions, links to sources; the same page requires you to keep an eye on licences and non-disclosure agreements when describing pre-release versions.
Prohibited by the community guidelines: insults and discrimination, publishing personal data without consent, infringing copyright and the right to one's own image, and posts whose main purpose is advertising or selling. An important caveat on the same page: an article whose main purpose is a technical explanation of your own or your company's technology does not count as advertising.
The terms put the same thing more harshly: it is prohibited to publish articles that are objectively assessed as having advertising or selling as their main purpose, and, separately, actions effectively recognised as solicitation for an advertising or commercial purpose, including posts made for search engine optimisation and affiliate programmes. You also may not hide the standard header, footer, advertising and copyright notice without permission by altering the page's styling.
The position on generative models: using AI tools is not prohibited, but you should not publish generated material without checking it for accuracy.
How to grow
Qiita does not publish its ranking mechanics. All that is stated openly is that articles with a large number of likes make it into "Trend" and get more readers, and that the "Home" feed is built on the basis of data about the user's behaviour.
The built-in occasion to publish is an article campaign: themed contests you can join when publishing, in advance, or even after an article is out, while the campaign is still running. The major events are listed in the advertising section: the Advent Calendar, Qiita Conference (twice a year, more than 12,000 participation applications a year in total), Qiita Tech Festa, hackathons.
A separate matter is gaming the numbers. The rewards programme has explicit thresholds: a DIAMOND trophy for 100,000 Contribution, GOLD for 50,000, a SILVER badge for 10,000; for an Organization — 150,000, 100,000 and 50,000 likes, provided that at least two members published articles. And right after that, a caveat: if mass acquisition of Contribution through edit requests that do not improve the article, or mass likes from spam accounts, is discovered, no award is granted even if the formal conditions are met.
The platform has its own advertising: banners with guaranteed impressions, Qiita DSP, sponsored articles in Qiita Zine, standalone email sends to segments, Qiita Research surveys, article campaigns and event sponsorship. The entry threshold is stated vaguely: "there are plans that can be run from a few hundred thousand yen".
Path to monetization
Qiita does not pay authors: there is no share of advertising revenue, no paid content and no subscription to an author on the pages we checked.
The only built-in way to receive money is an external one: integration with GitHub Sponsors, where a link to the author's sponsor page and a message they have set are displayed under the article and in the profile. The money goes through GitHub, and Qiita takes no part in the settlement. The rewards programme is not money: it consists of trophies, badges and mementoes.
Nor can you earn around the platform: developing applications within what the API allows is fine, but placing advertising in them to generate income is a breach of the terms.
There is a paid product, but it is for companies. Qiita Team is a private knowledge base; the plans: Personal (1 person) 500 yen a month, Micro (up to 3) — 1,520, Small (up to 7) — 4,900, Medium (up to 10) — 7,050, Large (up to 17) — 15,300, Extra (no limit) — from 15,300 plus 720 yen for each person from the eighteenth on; all prices include tax. Every plan includes an unlimited number of posts, 30 GB for files and email support; the platform reports more than 8,500 connected teams and a free programme for educational and non-profit organisations.
Tools and automation
The official interface is Qiita API v2: articles, comments, tags, likes, stocks, groups and teams; the GET, POST, PUT, PATCH and DELETE methods, with exchange in JSON only and over TLS only.
The rate limits are given as numbers: 1,000 requests an hour for an authorised request and 60 requests an hour per IP address for an unauthorised one; the remaining allowance is returned in a response header. Authorisation is by OAuth or an access token; for teams with mandatory single sign-on, access is possible only with a team token.
Scraping is prohibited outright: "because of concerns about increased server load, scraping Qiita is not permitted". The robots.txt confirms it: /search, /api/*, addresses ending in .md and edit histories are closed off; the exception Allow: /api/*/docs$ is open — you may read the documentation, but you may not pull data through the same prefix.
We found no third-party scheduling services with confirmed Qiita support.
Limits and rules
- Advertising. Posting with advertising or selling as the main purpose is prohibited; a technical description of your own product does not count as advertising.
- SEO and affiliate links. Prohibited by a separate clause.
- Gaming the numbers. Mass likes from spam accounts and edit requests made for Contribution cost you the award.
- Scraping. Prohibited.
- Monetising API applications. Advertising in an application built on Qiita's data is a breach of the terms.
- Handing over an account. Transferring or lending your username and password is prohibited.
- The response procedure. Breaches of the community guidelines, other than plain breaches of the terms, are handled on the basis of user reports; for repeat breaches — a ban on actions or a freezing of the account.
Who it's for
It suits you if your audience is Japanese developers and you are ready to write in Japanese. For a company's technical brand, an Organization plus the rewards programme gives a clear goal, and article campaigns give a regular reason to publish. It suits recruiting: the advertising section is built around hiring and technical PR tasks.
It does not suit head-on product promotion: both the terms and the community guidelines cut off posts whose main purpose is advertising. It does not suit authors looking for direct income: the platform does not pay. It does not suit services that want to build on Qiita's data: scraping is prohibited, and advertising in an API application is a breach of the terms.
Verified data
The checked data this deep dive rests on.
About the platform
the platform describes itself as follows: «Qiitaは、エンジニアに関する知識を記録・共有するためのサービスです。 プログラミングに関するTips、ノウハウ、メモを簡単に記録 & 公開することができます。»
Self-description: this is the platform's claim about itself, not an independent assessment
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform dates its launch to 11 September 2011
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform defines an «engineer» as «a person who applies knowledge and experience of programming», including those who are still learning
source, checked 2026-07-28
Who's here
the platform reports 1.5 million (150万) registered members
The platform's claim in its advertising section, not an independent measurement; the measurement date is not stated
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform reports more than 8 million (800万) unique visitors a month
The platform's claim in its advertising section; the measurement date is not stated
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform reports that about 65% of the audience make or influence decisions about adopting tools
The platform's claim; the measurement methodology is not disclosed
source, checked 2026-07-28
Sources diverge: the About page reports «more than 6 million users a month» with the note «as of February 2021»
DISCREPANCY WITHIN THE SITE: the advertising section on the same domain names more than 8 million unique visitors a month with no date. These are different measurements from different years
source, checked 2026-07-28
Business terms
the platform reports more than 8,500 connected Qiita Team teams
The platform's claim about itself
source, checked 2026-07-28
What you can publish
Images. An image in a post (our translation): the formats "avif, gif, jpeg, png, tiff" are supported; one file — "単体で10MB" (up to 10 MB); in total per month — "月に合計100MB" (up to 100 MB); the recommended width for display in a post is about 800 pixels. The user's icon is separate: "アップロード可能な画像は、gif, jpeg, pngです" (only gif, jpeg, png), neither dimensions nor a size is announced for it
our translation, the original is in Japanese; the monthly limit of 100 MB is the total volume of uploads, and not the size of one file; the icon — https://help.qiita.com/ja/articles/qiita-profile-image
source, checked 2026-08-04
The limits on the uploading of images (our translation): "単体で10MB" per file and "月に合計100MB" per month; the monthly counter and the deletion of files are on the settings page qiita.com/settings/upload_images, and moreover what has been deleted is not restored. Drafts — no more than 50. The frequency of requests to the developer interface is set separately: 1,000 requests per hour for an authenticated request and 60 requests per hour per one address for an unauthenticated one; paginated output — page from 1 to 100 and per_page from 1 to 100
our translation, the original is in Japanese; the monthly limit on volume depends on the calendar month, and not on the plan; the frequency of requests — https://qiita.com/api/v2/docs (the platform's robots.txt closes /api/*, but directly opens /api/*/docs$)
source, checked 2026-08-04
Text length. The help centre does not name a limit on the length of the title and of the text of a post. Other numbers are announced (our translation): tags per one post — "1つの記事には最大5個までのタグを設定できます" (no more than 5), and at the same time "タグを1個以上設定する必要があります" (at least one is mandatory), while the "/" character cannot be used in the name of a tag. Drafts — "下書きの上限数は50件です" (no more than 50)
our translation, the original is in Japanese; the platform does not publicly limit the length of the title and of the text; the number of drafts — https://help.qiita.com/ja/articles/qiita-post
source, checked 2026-08-04
Promotion
Contribution weights: a like on an article 1, publishing an article 1, a like on a comment 0,5, a stock of an article 0,5, a comment on an article 0,1, an accepted edit request 1 (since 1 April 2022; previously 5), sending an edit request 0,2, a like on an answer 0,5, publishing an answer 0,2, a like on a question 0,2, publishing a question 0,1, a like on a stock list 0,2
source, checked 2026-07-28
rewards programme thresholds: users — a DIAMOND trophy for 100,000 Contribution, GOLD for 50,000, a SILVER badge for 10,000; Organizations — 150,000, 100,000 and 50,000 likes, provided that at least two members published articles
The awards are physical items (trophies, badges, shields), not money
source, checked 2026-07-28
article campaigns: themed contests you can join when publishing, in advance, or after an article is out while the campaign is still running
If you register in advance, a reminder arrives 7 days before the campaign ends
source, checked 2026-07-28
articles with a large number of likes make it into «Trend» and get more readers; the Home feed is built on the basis of data about the user's behaviour
The platform publishes no threshold, calculation window or factor weights
source, checked 2026-07-28
Advertising
advertising formats: banners with guaranteed impressions, Qiita DSP, sponsored articles in Qiita Zine, standalone email sends to segments, Qiita Research surveys, article campaigns, event sponsorship
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform reports that Qiita Conference is held twice a year and gathers more than 12,000 participation applications a year in total
The platform's claim
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform states the lower budget bound vaguely: «there are plans that can be run from a few hundred thousand yen»
There are no specific rates per impression or per email on the public pages; the media kit is issued on request
source, checked 2026-07-28
How the money works here
Actions that objectively constitute advertising, promotion or commercial solicitation are prohibited, including but not limited to posts for the purpose of search engine optimization or affiliate earnings — 検索サイト最適化又はアフィリエイトを目的とする投稿行為を含むがこれに限らない; the exception is where the company has separately permitted this in the tool
our translation, the original is in Japanese; the prohibited actions section of the rules
source, checked 2026-08-04
the only built-in way to receive money is integration with GitHub Sponsors: a link to the author's sponsor page and a message they have set are displayed under the article and in the profile
Settlement goes through GitHub, and Qiita takes no part in it
source, checked 2026-07-28
Pricing
Qiita Team plans per month including tax: Personal (1 person) 500 yen, Micro (up to 3) 1 520, Small (up to 7) 4 900, Medium (up to 10) 7 050, Large (up to 17) 15 300, Extra (no limit on the number of people) from 15 300 plus 720 yen for each person from the eighteenth on
Every plan includes an unlimited number of posts, 30 GB for files and email support
source, checked 2026-07-28
Limits and restrictions
robots.txt closes off /search, /api/*, addresses ending in .md and edit histories; a separate rule opens Allow: /api/*/docs$
That is, you may read the documentation but may not pull data through the same prefix
source, checked 2026-07-28
Restrictions
it is prohibited to publish articles that are objectively assessed as having advertising or selling as their main purpose
The community guidelines stipulate that a technical explanation of your own or your company's technology does not count as advertising
source, checked 2026-07-28
actions effectively recognised as solicitation for an advertising or commercial purpose are prohibited, including posts made for search engine optimisation and affiliate programmes
source, checked 2026-07-28
it is prohibited to hide the standard header, footer, advertising and copyright notice without permission by altering the page's styling
source, checked 2026-07-28
if Contribution is acquired en masse through edit requests that do not improve the article, or through mass likes from spam accounts, no award is granted even when the formal conditions are met
source, checked 2026-07-28
using AI tools is not prohibited, but you should not publish generated material without checking it for accuracy
source, checked 2026-07-28
Moderation
The terms (articles 11–12): in the event of violations the company may, «事前の予告なく» (without prior notice), apply «該当する記事の非公開又は削除» (hiding or deleting the article in question) and «当該登録ユーザーの本アカウントの凍結又は削除» (freezing or deleting that registered user's account) (verbatim). The Guidelines: first «違反していることへの気づき、対応を促します» (our translation: prompting awareness of the violation and a response), and on repeat violations «より厳しい対応をせざるを得なくなります» (our translation: stricter measures become unavoidable) (verbatim).
No formal numeric ladder is announced; the second quotation is from help.qiita.com/ja/articles/qiita-community-guideline (a host with no robots.txt).
source, checked 2026-08-07
API access
the home page carries a link to developer documentation: https://qiita.com/tags/api — the page opens and shows signs of documentation
CORRECTED the previous version declared any address containing the word api or dev found on the home page to be a developer section. All 57 such records were checked by opening the address: 24 turned out to be documentation. See data/technical/dev-links-verified.tsv and docs/research/S195-догадка-по-адресу.md
source, checked 2026-07-28
the Qiita API v2 documentation is at https://qiita.com/api/v2/docs
The page opens and contains descriptions of the methods, authorisation and limits
source, checked 2026-07-28
request limit: 1000 requests an hour for an authorised request and 60 requests an hour per IP address for an unauthorised one; the remaining allowance is returned in a response header
Exchange in JSON only and over TLS only
source, checked 2026-07-28
teams with mandatory single sign-on are accessible through the API only with a team token
source, checked 2026-07-28
scraping Qiita is not permitted: the platform cites concerns about increased server load
source, checked 2026-07-28
developing applications within what the API allows is fine, but placing advertising in them to generate income is a breach of the terms of service
source, checked 2026-07-28
Sources diverge: CORRECTION TO THE ENTRY api/docs_link_found: the address https://qiita.com/tags/api is not documentation but the «API» tag page with a feed of articles and post and follower counters
The page was opened by us on the check date. The real documentation is https://qiita.com/api/v2/docs. The discrepancy with the previous database entry is recorded separately
source, checked 2026-07-28
Languages
the interface language of the home page: ja
The language is taken from the markup attribute, the versions from hreflang
source, checked 2026-07-28
the interface, the help centre and the terms are in Japanese; an English version exists only for the About page
source, checked 2026-07-28
Catalogue section: all similar See also: catalogue index · region: Japan · scheduler comparison · find by situation · platform restrictions