r/todayilearned vs r/explainlikeimfive

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/todayilearned Related to r/explainlikeimfive

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/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

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

Supported differences

Aspect	r/todayilearned	r/explainlikeimfive
Public focus (from each community’s public description)	You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? Submit interesting and specific facts about something that you just found out here.	Explain Like I'm Five is the best forum and archive on the internet for layperson-friendly explanations. Don't Panic!
Size r/todayilearned is larger in our directory (about 1.8×).	41.7M members	23.7M members
Posting activity (our sample)	96.6/day	75.6/day
Common post types in our sample	links 95%, videos 5%, images 0%	text posts 100%
Allowed submission type (meta)	Link posts	Text posts
Topic tags on SubMouse	Interesting Facts	Explanations & Q&A
Selected 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	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

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.