vc.ru
Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.
Overview
vc.ru is a Russian-language media platform about business and technology where material is written both by the editorial team and by users. The platform describes itself as the "largest platform in the Runet for entrepreneurs and highly qualified specialists" — that is its own wording, not the result of an independent measurement.
For social media work something else matters: vc.ru has no "advertising product on top of a blog" — the company blog itself is the advertising product. The platform expressly singles out the category of "commercial account" and introduces restrictions for it that are lifted only by a paid subscription. Corporate presence here is paid by default, and that is written on the site.
The project belongs to Komitet LLC and runs on its own Osnova platform; alongside vc.ru the same company runs dtf.ru.
Who's here
The platform gives two different numbers in two of its own documents. The "About the project" page, dated 05.09.2018, reports 12 million unique users a month. The advertising page, dated 19.04.2022, already reports 13 million unique visitors a month. The company's site names "more than 12 million users monthly" with no date. We record the discrepancy as it stands: these numbers cannot be reconciled with one another, since they have different dates and different units ("users" and "visitors").
An audience breakdown comes only from the advertising page: 80% of the audience lives in cities of over a million people, of them 30% in Moscow and Moscow Region and 9% in Saint Petersburg; 40% of the audience is aged 25–34, 22% is 35–44, 18% is 18–24; 67% read on mobile, 33% on desktop; 15% are direct visits, 85% are targeted search queries. All these shares are the platform's own measurement of 2022 vintage. Note: the "About the project" page gives a different city breakdown — 40% Moscow and Moscow Region, 18% Saint Petersburg. That is a second discrepancy inside one site.
Getting started
Registration is ordinary, with no separate "business mode" at the entrance. The platform writes plainly: a company blog is registered the same way as an ordinary user profile, and it advises thinking through in advance how several employees will share one login — no team access with roles is described there.
Verification is a separate story. The blue checkmark means only authenticity and gives no advantages on the site; the criteria are a filled-in profile, regular activity and "prominence". To companies that do not fit them the platform offers the Pro subscription with a black checkmark.
The legal part on the company page is strict: if there is no content for 60 days from creation, the page may be hidden from the catalogue, and if there is none for a year it may be deleted; the administration may also request documents confirming the right to represent a legal entity, and allows 5 business days for a reply.
What you can publish
The format is an article in the platform's own editor. The media limits are named with numbers: images and GIFs up to 15 MB, audio and video files up to 100 MB; images in jpg, png, gif, webp, video in 3gp, mp4, mov, audio in mp3 and m4a; for a profile — an avatar up to 5 MB, a video avatar up to 10 seconds, a cover up to 15 MB at a size from 1280 × 400.
What is forbidden bears directly on commercial goals. The rules call aggressive placement of links to external resources spam and separately forbid posts promoting commercial services, offerings or links, including through contests. The same page forbids advertising drugs, VPNs, online casinos and bookmakers, pirated content and the wholesale copying of other people's material. Your own text from another site can be carried over without a link to the original; someone else's only with the author's permission.
How to grow
The restriction for commercial accounts
This is the platform's key mechanism, and it is described openly. Commercial means a blog used predominantly to promote services, projects, offerings or goods, regardless of whether it is run on behalf of a company or a private person; the markers are the blog's name and description, the content, the depth of the work, signs of profit-seeking. The restrictions: posts are automatically hidden from distribution inside vc.ru, are not indexed by search engines, and a limit applies — no more than one post a month. Posts remain available on the blog page and by direct links.
The Pro subscription
The subscription lifts the restrictions. Pro gives publication of up to 60 posts a month, entry into the recommendation system, indexing by search engines, a black checkmark and a short address of the form vc.ru/company. Pro Max adds 10,000+ additional impressions a month in the "Popular" feed and in the recommendations, a recommendations block without competitors, and the "Button" tool. The features are managed through a Telegram bot. The prices are named on the advertising page: Pro from 32,900 roubles a month, Pro Max from 56,900 roubles a month.
An important caveat from the platform itself: even with a Pro subscription posts can be hidden from the feeds in the event of rule violations or signs of inflated views.
Advertising
The ad account is a tool in its own right. The entry threshold: the minimum price per thousand impressions is 1500 roubles, and an ad itself can be launched from 500 roubles, with prices given before VAT. A first-price auction operates; an impression is counted if at least 50% of the ad block is on screen for a second or more; by default an ad is shown to one user no more than 5 times a day, and the display itself can be run on two platforms at once — vc.ru and DTF. Devices, dates, a daily budget and geotargeting by Russian cities and the largest cities of the CIS are all configurable.
The platform lists the remaining formats with prices: a corporate blog — from 32 thousand roubles, announcements in the outlet's social networks — from 180 thousand, banners — from 250 thousand, an article written by the editorial team — from 500 thousand, interactive special projects — from 1.5 million roubles. Note an inconsistency inside that very page: in the list special projects are named "from 1.5 million", while the heading of the corresponding section says "from 2 million roubles".
Path to monetization
The platform does not pay authors for views and does not share advertising revenue — there is no such programme on the pages we checked. The only described way to get money from readers is donations. The terms are named with numbers: the minimum amount of a single donation is 100 roubles, the maximum is 10,000 roubles, the minimum withdrawal amount is 250 roubles, and the payment service's fee is ≈6.5%. The money has to be withdrawn within 150 days, otherwise it goes back to the senders. Separately the platform warns that because of payment system sanctions foreign cards are not supported in donations — neither for sending nor for withdrawal.
For readers there is the Plus subscription: 129 roubles a month, the first month for 1 rouble, and an annual plan at 98 roubles a month — hiding ads, a badge and an hour to edit a comment. It has nothing to do with an author's earnings.
Tools and automation
vc.ru has no public publishing API. A link from the home page leads to the api.vc.ru subdomain, but on a direct request it returned the error "No URL passed for the redirect": this is a service wrapper for external links in articles, not an interface for integrations.
Of the built-in tools the platform names its own Paragraph editor, the Leonardo media platform, the Booster advertising system and AI solutions for moderation, recommendations and voicing posts. Ad statistics are visible in the ad account, accounts are automatically registered with an ORD (advertising data operator), and every ad is assigned a token that is renewed on relaunch. Statistics on articles are not described on the open pages.
Limits and rules
- A commercial account without Pro. One post a month, hiding from distribution, no indexing.
- Penalties. A progressive scale: the first level is a 3-hour ban, then 6 and 12 hours, 1 day, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 days and a permanent block; for spam, breaking the laws of the Russian Federation, circumventing restrictions, destructive behaviour, impersonation, defamation and rating manipulation — an immediate block with no reinstatement.
- Hiding from the feeds. The grounds include political topics, frequent posts with no substance, all caps and an abundance of emoji, memes and erotica; the list is expressly called non-exhaustive.
- Ad moderation. Working hours are Monday to Friday, from 11:00 to 19:00, with a check usually taking 10–15 minutes; at weekends ads may be checked once a day. Not advertised are conflicts and disputes, complaints about brands, unverified products, digital financial assets and crypto exchanges, investment recommendations, anonymous Telegram channels.
- Law. The platform operates in the jurisdiction of Russia; obvious violations are stopped at the moment of discovery, non-obvious ones at the request of supervisory bodies, and you may ask for a block to be lifted after a year, although a year in itself does not mean an amnesty. Mentioning Meta and its services requires a footnote about the organization being recognized as extremist in Russia.
Who it's for
It suits Russian B2B companies, services and agencies ready to pay for a presence: the Pro subscription turns a blog into a working channel with indexing and recommendations, and an ad from 500 roubles gives a low threshold for testing hypotheses, a rare thing for a media outlet of this size. It suits expert authors who write in their own name and do not sell head-on: a user blog without commercial markers gets no restrictions.
It does not suit you if you are counting on a free corporate presence: the commercial account regime reduces it to one post a month with no distribution. It does not suit an audience outside Russia and the Russian-speaking CIS — ad geotargeting is limited to exactly those. It does not suit projects in the forbidden categories: crypto exchanges, digital financial assets, casinos and VPNs will pass neither moderation nor the rules. And it does not suit those who need payouts to foreign cards.
Verified data
The checked data this deep dive rests on.
About the platform
the platform describes itself as: “The largest platform in the Runet for entrepreneurs of a new generation. IT market news, Runet vacancies, advertising, PR, interfaces, mobile applications.”
Self-description: this is the platform's claim about itself, not an independent assessment
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform describes itself as: “vc.ru is the largest platform in the Runet for entrepreneurs and highly qualified specialists of small, medium and large companies”
source, checked 2026-07-28
the project belongs to Komitet LLC (OGRN 1127847001028, INN 7842467141, Saint Petersburg) and runs on its own Osnova platform
The details are given by the platform itself; the page is dated 05.09.2018
source, checked 2026-07-28
Who's here
the platform reports: 40% of the audience is aged 25–34, 22% is 35–44, 18% is 18–24; 67% read on mobile, 33% on desktop
The platform's own measurement; the page is dated 19.04.2022
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform reports: 15% are direct visits, 85% are targeted search queries; traffic is not bought
The platform's statement in advertising material
source, checked 2026-07-28
Sources diverge: the platform reports: 12 million unique users a month
The page is dated 05.09.2018. It contradicts the figure of 13 million at https://vc.ru/ads (19.04.2022) and “more than 12 million” at https://cmtt.ru/legal
source, checked 2026-07-28
Sources diverge: the platform reports: 13 million unique visitors a month
The page is dated 19.04.2022. The unit of measurement (“visitors”) differs from “users” on /about
source, checked 2026-07-28
Sources diverge: the platform reports: 80% of the audience lives in cities of over a million people, 30% in Moscow and Moscow Region, 9% in Saint Petersburg
A DISCREPANCY inside the site: the page https://vc.ru/about names 40% Moscow and Moscow Region and 18% Saint Petersburg
source, checked 2026-07-28
Account and access
the blue checkmark confirms authenticity and gives no advantages on the site; the criteria are a filled-in profile, regular activity, “prominence”; applications go to platform@cmtt.ru
Companies that do not fit the criteria are offered the black checkmark of the Pro subscription
source, checked 2026-07-28
Business terms
a commercial account without a subscription: posts are hidden from distribution, are not indexed by search engines, and there is a limit of no more than 1 published post a month
The key restriction for corporate presence; it is lifted by a Pro subscription
source, checked 2026-07-28
if there is no content for 60 calendar days a company page may be hidden from the catalogue, and if there is none for 1 year it may be deleted
The legal rules for using the product
source, checked 2026-07-28
the administration may request documents confirming the right to represent a legal entity; the reply period is 5 business days
source, checked 2026-07-28
What you can publish
images and GIFs up to 15 MB, audio and video files up to 100 MB; images in jpg, png, gif, webp; video in 3gp, mp4, mov; audio in mp3, m4a
source, checked 2026-07-28
an avatar up to 5 MB, a video avatar up to 10 seconds (gif, mp4), a profile cover up to 15 MB, with an optimal size from 1280 × 400
source, checked 2026-07-28
Advertising
the minimum price per thousand impressions is 1500 roubles, and an ad can be launched from 500 roubles (prices before VAT)
A first-price auction
source, checked 2026-07-28
an impression is counted if at least 50% of the ad block is on screen for a second or more; by default an ad is shown to one user no more than 5 times a day
source, checked 2026-07-28
geotargeting covers all cities of Russia and the largest cities of the CIS; targeting by desktop, smartphone, tablet; display on two platforms — vc.ru and DTF
source, checked 2026-07-28
ad moderation: Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 19:00, usually 10–15 minutes; at weekends and on holidays no more than once a day
source, checked 2026-07-28
not advertised are conflicts and disputes, complaints about brands, new unverified products, digital financial assets and crypto exchanges, investment recommendations, anonymous Telegram channels
source, checked 2026-07-28
all ad accounts are automatically registered with an ORD (advertising data operator); every ad is assigned a token that is renewed on each relaunch
A requirement of Russian legislation on advertising labelling
source, checked 2026-07-28
Sources diverge: a corporate blog from 32 thousand roubles, announcements in the outlet's social networks from 180 thousand, banners from 250 thousand, an article by the editorial team from 500 thousand, interactive special projects from 1.5 million roubles
A DISCREPANCY inside a single page: in the list special projects are “from 1.5 million”, in the heading of the section below — “from 2 million roubles”
source, checked 2026-07-28
How the money works here
External commercial links are restricted. The rules of communication, clause 1: "Spam in any form is forbidden on vc.ru… the aggressive placement of links to external resources". Clause 2: "We do not prevent the publication of links to one's own resources, projects and giveaways, as long as they remain in the interests of the community and are not used for commercial purposes. Posts promoting commercial tools, services or links, including through contests, are forbidden on vc.ru". If a blog has been set up for the sake of advertising, restrictions are applied to it, and they can be lifted "after the purchase of a Pro subscription"
The words "affiliate link" are not in the rules, but a commercial link is described directly; once a Pro subscription has been paid for, the restriction is lifted. Clause 4 separately forbids links to online casinos, bookmakers, VPNs and the circumvention of blocking Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
donations: a minimum of 100 roubles and a maximum of 10,000 roubles per donation, a minimum withdrawal amount of 250 roubles, a payment service fee of ≈6.5%, and withdrawal required within 150 days
Foreign cards are not supported in donations because of payment system sanctions
source, checked 2026-07-28
What must be disclosed. No obligation for the creator to label advertising content is established in the rules — commercial promotion is simply forbidden (clause 2 of the rules of communication). The label is put by the platform itself on its own paid placements: "We accompany all announcements with an advertising label". In the advertising dashboard, when promotion is launched, a field for legal information is provided: "in the settings you can set the dates and the targetings and add legal information"
The requirement of the Russian advertising marking (the erid token) is not named directly on the pages read; the text has only "legal information" in the advertisement builder. https://vc.ru/rules, https://vc.ru/ads, https://vc.ru/terms were checked Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Paid subscriptions
the Pro subscription is from 32,900 roubles a month, Pro Max from 56,900 roubles a month
The prices are named on a page dated 19.04.2022; there are no prices on the /pro page itself
source, checked 2026-07-28
Pro: up to 60 posts a month, entry into the recommendation system, indexing by search engines, a black checkmark, the short address vc.ru/company
The features are managed through a Telegram bot. The page is dated 17.11.2022
source, checked 2026-07-28
Pro Max: additionally 10,000+ impressions a month in the “Popular” feed and in the recommendations, a recommendations block without competitors, the “Button” tool in the editor
source, checked 2026-07-28
the Plus subscription for readers is 129 roubles a month, the first month for 1 rouble, and the annual plan 98 roubles a month
It gives hiding of ads, a badge and an hour to edit a comment instead of 20 minutes
source, checked 2026-07-28
Restrictions
a progressive scale of blocks: 3 hours, 6, 12 hours, 1 day, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 days and a permanent block; each further violation doubles the term
Immediate and with no reinstatement — for spam, breaking the laws of the Russian Federation, circumventing restrictions, destructive behaviour, impersonation, defamation, rating manipulation
source, checked 2026-07-28
posts promoting commercial services, offerings or links, including through contests, are forbidden; a blog created solely for advertising receives restrictions that are lifted by a Pro subscription
source, checked 2026-07-28
Legal
the platform operates in the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation; obvious violations are stopped at the moment of discovery, non-obvious ones at the request of supervisory bodies
Mentioning Meta, Instagram, Facebook and Threads in advertised articles requires a footnote about the organization being recognized as extremist
source, checked 2026-07-28
API access
the address https://api.vc.ru/v2.8/redirect was found on the home page by the “api/dev” marker in the address, but the address itself does not open
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
Languages
the interface language of the home page: ru
The language is taken from the markup attribute, the versions from hreflang
source, checked 2026-07-28
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