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r/explainlikeimfive vs r/todayilearned

Side-by-side using public descriptions, members, growth and rule titles from SubMouse. Missing fields show as n/a. Adult communities are excluded.

Swap sides New comparison Related to r/explainlikeimfive Related to r/todayilearned

Today I Learned room vs Explain Like I'm Five room

r/todayilearned is built around sharing newly learned facts. r/explainlikeimfive asks for explanations phrased simply.

In our directory, todayilearned is larger (about 41.7M, rank #6) than explainlikeimfive (about 23.7M, rank #26). Activity samples show todayilearned posting more often (~97 posts/day vs ~76). todayilearned’s sample is mix of link; explainlikeimfive’s is mostly text. todayilearned flairs include Frequent/Recent Repost: Removed, (R.6d) Too General, Rule 4, Invalid Source, (R.1) Not verifiable; explainlikeimfive shows Other, Biology, Technology, Economics, Physics.

Rule titles: todayilearned: Inaccurate/unverifiable/not supported by source; No personal opinions/anecdotes/subjective posts; No recent sources; No politics/agenda pushing; No misleading claims; Too general/can't stand on its own/how to; No submissions about software/websites; All NSFW links must be tagged.. explainlikeimfive: 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. SubMouse already compares explainlikeimfive with NoStupidQuestions.

  • Choose r/todayilearned to post a sourced fact you just learned under its title and source norms.
  • Choose r/explainlikeimfive when you want a plain-language explanation under its question-framing rules.
  • Both are Top 100 communities in our directory. explainlikeimfive-vs-nostupidquestions is a separate curated page.

Written comparison based on public descriptions and rule titles · updated 2026-11-07.

r/explainlikeimfive

Explain Like I'm Five | Don't Panic!

Explain Like I'm Five is the best forum and archive on the internet for layperson-friendly explanations. Don't Panic!

Members
23.7M
7-day growth
+5K
Posts/day
75.6
Directory rank
#26
Created
Jul 28, 2011
Submissions
Text posts

Sample mix: text posts 100%

Topics: Explanations & Q&A

Rule titles (short names we collected)

  • 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:"
  • Link to the Detailed Rules

Open r/explainlikeimfive on SubMouse

About this community: r/explainlikeimfive (#26, about 23.7 million) requires posts beginning with ELI5: and seeks objective explanations for laypeople (not literal five-year-olds). Top-level comments must be written explanations; no opinions-as-answers, loaded questions, or guessing. Text (~75.6 ppd).

r/todayilearned

Today I Learned (TIL)

You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? Submit interesting and specific facts about something that you just found out here.

Members
41.7M
7-day growth
+7.4K
Posts/day
96.6
Directory rank
#6
Created
Dec 28, 2008
Submissions
Link posts

Sample mix: links 95%, videos 5%, images 0%

Topics: Interesting Facts

Rule titles (short names we collected)

  • Inaccurate/unverifiable/not supported by source
  • No personal opinions/anecdotes/subjective posts
  • No recent sources
  • No politics/agenda pushing
  • No misleading claims
  • Too general/can't stand on its own/how to
  • No submissions about software/websites

Open r/todayilearned on SubMouse

About this community: r/todayilearned (#6, about 41.7 million) is for interesting specific facts you just learned—backed by a source. Rules reject unverifiable claims, opinions/anecdotes, politics/agenda pushing, misleading claims, and posts that are too general or about software/websites. Link-heavy (~96.6 ppd).

Supported differences

Aspectr/explainlikeimfiver/todayilearned
Public focus (from each community’s public description) Explain Like I'm Five is the best forum and archive on the internet for layperson-friendly explanations. Don't Panic! You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? Submit interesting and specific facts about something that you just found out here.
Size
r/todayilearned is larger in our directory (about 1.8×).
 23.7M members 41.7M members
Posting activity (our sample) 75.6/day 96.6/day
Common post types in our sample text posts 100% links 95%, videos 5%, images 0%
Allowed submission type (meta) Text posts Link posts
Topic tags on SubMouse Explanations & Q&A Interesting Facts
Selected rule titles (short names we collected) 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 Inaccurate/unverifiable/not supported by source; No personal opinions/anecdotes/subjective posts; No recent sources; No politics/agenda pushing; No misleading claims

Rules and posting patterns we can verify

todayilearned short titles include: Inaccurate/unverifiable/not supported by source; No personal opinions/anecdotes/subjective posts; No recent sources; No politics/agenda pushing; No misleading claims; Too general/can't stand on its own/how to; No submissions about software/websites; All NSFW links must be tagged..

explainlikeimfive: 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.

Where this comparison comes from

Public descriptions and member counts from SubMouse’s safe-for-work directory. Short rule titles and activity samples SubMouse collected. Short titles only. Related curated page: explainlikeimfive-vs-nostupidquestions.

Members and public descriptions come from SubMouse's safe-for-work directory (as of 2026-11-02 UTC); 7-day growth measured from 2026-10-26. Posts/day and post-type mixes appear when we have an activity sample. Rule lines are short titles, not the full sidebar. Directory rank is listing order — communities outside the current Top 100 open in the info tool instead of a full community page.

Comparisons we prepared

Hand-written explanations for pairs where the public descriptions and rules support a real distinction: