Dzen
Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.
Overview
Dzen is a Russian recommendation platform where authors' articles, posts, short videos and videos land in a single personalised feed. The owner, according to the about page, is VK LLC. That matters for understanding the platform: promotion here is built on VK's infrastructure rather than Yandex's — "Promo in Dzen is a tool for promoting articles that runs on VK Ads technology".
The setup differs from a video host or a social network in two ways. First, followers here do not guarantee reach: the platform itself distributes publications across three display models — in the general feed, to followers only, or nowhere. Second, the money is paid for text: under the monetization terms, "remuneration is accrued only for text formats — articles and posts. Videos and short videos are not monetized."
A practical detail for anyone who wants to check the platform themselves: the home page dzen.ru responds with a redirect to the Yandex sign-in page (sso.passport.yandex.ru). That is not a block — the feed is simply unavailable without signing in. The public help sections, meanwhile, read freely, and almost all the content of this article was gathered from them.
Who's here
The platform publishes its figures on the about page — these are its own statements, not the result of independent measurement, and the period they were calculated for is not given there:
- 67 million users a month (MAU);
- 26 minutes a day — the average time in the app;
- 100,000 authors who actively publish content;
- 5,000 media outlets covering events in Russia and around the world.
The platform does not disclose a geographic or language breakdown of its audience. Indirect pointers to its footprint come from programme rules: awards to authors are delivered to Russia and Belarus, and donations are withdrawn only to a Russian bank card. There is one more distribution point — Odnoklassniki: under the monetization terms an author earns from reading time on their articles not only in Dzen but also in that social network.
Getting started
Channel and account
You sign in with VK ID or Yandex ID, and there is a hard restriction here: "Each VK ID or Yandex ID account can have one Dzen channel linked to it". You cannot separate several projects on one account — each needs its own login.
The requirements for setting up a channel on the same page are specific:
- name — up to 140 characters, description — no more than 300 characters including spaces;
- avatar — PNG, JPG, BMP or WebP, up to 10 MB, at least 300 × 300 pixels, no animation, with an opaque background and no small lettering;
- the channel cover becomes available from 500 followers: up to 10 MB, JPG/BMP/PNG, at least 1500 × 250 (6:1) for computers and 960 × 540 (16:9) for phones;
- up to 5 links to social network profiles.
Verification
A check mark confirms that a channel genuinely belongs to a public figure, a media outlet or a brand. Under the verification rules you must meet at least one condition: the channel belongs to a media partner of Dzen News; you have a verified account on TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Telegram or VK with an obvious thematic connection; a VK community has state-organisation status; there is a Wikipedia article about you with verifiable sources; or there are at least 3 publications by federal media over the past year that are substantively about you, not merely mentions. On top of that, the channel itself must have an avatar, a description and recent publications.
The application is submitted through the support form and reviewed within 30 days; the platform may refuse without explanation. If you change the channel name or your monetization details, the status has to be confirmed again.
What you can publish
Formats
Through Dzen Studio an author creates, edits and deletes material in the article, video and post formats, and scheduled publishing is available there too. The authors' section lists articles, posts, short videos and videos as a channel's main formats.
Media outlets have a separate route with no manual work: "send publications from your own site to Dzen using a specially marked-up RSS feed" — the material is then published on the platform rather than remaining a link to the original source.
What is prohibited
Dzen's requirements are a detailed list with the sanctions named outright. Prohibited entirely or with restrictions: material encouraging participation in gambling (including links to casinos and exaggeration of the odds of winning); calls for discrimination and insults on grounds of nationality, race, age, religion or political views; information about goods and services prohibited or restricted by law; advertising of alcohol and nicotine with distance selling; answers to the Unified State Exam (EGE), the Basic State Exam (OGE) and academic olympiads; unoriginal content, including material already posted on Dzen; explicit and shocking content.
The platform names its sanctions in ascending order: display to followers only, switching off monetization for individual publications or for the whole channel, blocking the channel, and a full restriction for repeat violations. Two items are singled out: artificially inflating metrics (views, read-throughs, followers) gets the channel blocked, and material about accidents and tragedies gets monetization switched off.
How to grow
What the platform itself says about the algorithm
The content display models are the most direct thing Dzen writes about its algorithm. A publication falls into one of three categories. The first — recommended in the feed: the material meets the requirements and is shown without restrictions, and its visibility depends on the number of followers, audience interest and engagement metrics (views, likes, read-throughs). The second — followers only: the platform proceeds from the assumption that they chose that content themselves. The third — a block with no possibility of restoration, for gross violations.
The practical conclusion follows: followers on Dzen are not reach but insurance. Material that does not clear the bar for the general feed will still reach those who subscribed, but will go no further.
Paid promotion
Promo in Dzen requires three things: a Dzen channel, a VK Ads account and a link between them. Two models are available: pay per click (the objectives "Promote an article", "Subscribe to a channel", "Article read-through") and pay per impression (the "Reach and awareness" section for articles, videos and channels). The minimum campaign duration is one week. Ads are assembled automatically: channel information, labelling ("Advertising", an age category), media, a headline of up to 70 characters and a description; promoting a channel adds a subscribe button and requires an image of at least 600 × 600 pixels in PNG or JPG.
An important restriction from the same page: viewing time generated by clicks from a promo does not count towards monetization earnings. In other words, you cannot use paid traffic to "catch up" to the threshold for joining monetization.
Statistics
The statistics section covers follower dynamics, extended data on publications, a breakdown of how income is accrued, and audience characteristics — socio-demographic, geographic and others. The data is updated hourly for the last 48 hours, and figures for the last 24 hours may change after anti-fraud filtering. The same page mentions the option of connecting external web analytics services.
Awards
The platform hands out physical awards for 100,000, 500,000 and 1,000,000 followers. The conditions: the channel is actively maintained and has recent publications, there are no restrictions for rule violations, and the author is in the delivery zone — Russia and Belarus. A letter arrives within a month of reaching the threshold, and the award is delivered by courier within 4 weeks of the form being filled in.
Path to monetization
Dzen lists five ways to earn: channel monetization (income from time spent viewing articles), native advertising, donations, "Dzen Premium" and "Stellas".
Basic activation
There is a single threshold, and it is not high: "To start earning, you must accumulate 30 hours of viewing from followers over the last 30 days". The key phrase is "from followers": random traffic from the feed does not go into that counter. And once more on the main restriction: remuneration is accrued only for articles and posts; videos and short videos are not monetized.
The contract is concluded in one of four ways — as a private individual, as a self-employed person, as an individual entrepreneur or as a legal entity; all of one author's channels must use the same method (a single taxpayer number). The availability of the "private individual" option distinguishes Dzen from RUTUBE, where a tax status is mandatory. Every application goes through a mandatory check. The platform separately advises finding out in advance whether you will keep any benefits and social payments once you receive income from Dzen.
Donations
Under the donation rules an author activates them in Dzen Studio by linking a card through VK Pay. Funds are withdrawn to a card with a 10% fee; the card must be issued by a Russian bank. The limit is up to 10 million rubles of donations a month. An author can set fundraising goals with an amount and a deadline, give a date of birth for the birthday widget, and switch donations off at any time. Individual entrepreneurs and legal entities can also accept donations if the card requirements are met.
"Dzen Premium"
This is a subscription to an author's exclusive content. According to the platform's description, activation requires active monetization and bank details (a settlement account and a BIC); the application is processed in 3 working days. Exclusive material can be articles and videos — horizontal and vertical, from 10 seconds. The author creates their own subscription tiers, and each higher tier includes the content of the lower ones.
Two things to know before launching. First: a tier's price cannot be changed after it is created. Second: income is shown without Dzen's fee deducted, and the size of that fee is not named on the page. Reports arrive within 7 working days of the following month, and payouts within 15 working days.
Do not confuse "Dzen Premium" with "Dzen Pro": that is a user subscription at 159 ₽ per 30 days which turns off advertising and gives access to an AI assistant and extended comments. The money from it goes to the platform, not to the author.
"Stellas" and native advertising
"Stellas" are special reactions with which readers support publications. Activation requires taking part in the monetization programme and content that meets the requirements for monetizable material. The number of stellas is visible in "Statistics → Publications", and the income on the "Income" tab or in "Monetization → Balance". The exchange rate and the minimum amounts are not given on the page.
Native advertising is allowed, but with two obligations. The first: put a "Partner material" label in the interface. The second, more important: that label does not relieve the author of labelling the advertising themselves — Dzen is not an advertising data operator and does not issue tokens, so the author must register with an ORD on their own. The platform's substantive requirement: if you removed the brand mentions, the publication should remain just as substantial.
Yandex's affiliate programme
There is also a separate programme, the Yandex Advertising Network for bloggers, which names Dzen among its supported platforms alongside VKontakte, Rutube, Telegram, MAX and YouTube. The conditions: from 1,000 channel followers, Russian residents only, in the status of a legal entity, an individual entrepreneur or a self-employed person; you earn by placing links to products and shops with payment for target actions. The same page states that from 1 January 2025 channels with 10,000 followers and above must be in the Roskomnadzor register in order to distribute advertising.
Tools and automation
Cross-posting from Telegram
The only official channel of automated publishing that the platform describes openly is synchronisation with Telegram through the zen_sync_bot bot. The terms and limits:
- the Telegram channel must be public; only one Telegram channel can be linked to one Dzen channel;
- media files are transferred up to 20 MB in size;
- the headline becomes the first sentence of the source post, up to 140 characters;
- text formatting is not carried over;
- articles are assembled from "text + images" and "text + video", posts only from "text + images"; voice messages, polls, reposts, advertising with an ERID tag and video notes are not published;
- there are two modes: automatic (posts sync within minutes, edits are carried over, and a deletion in Telegram has to be repeated manually in Dzen) and manual (forwarding posts to the bot);
- you can configure UTM tags to separate traffic from Telegram, with
utm_source=Zen_Posts.
Third-party services
Of the schedulers we checked, SmmBox explicitly names Dzen in its list of supported platforms — Dzen is among the 14 scheduling platforms listed there. SMMplanner, in its own publication of 21 April 2025, says plainly: "SMMplanner does not yet have functionality for managing posting to Dzen" — and offers a workaround through the same official sync bot. Onlypult does not have Dzen in its list of platforms; Popsters does not have it in its list of networks for analytics.
Programmatic access
We found no public API documentation for Dzen: the help has no developer section, and the platform's sitemaps list millions of channel addresses rather than documentation sections. The only official "programmatic" way of delivering content for media outlets is the marked-up RSS feed mentioned above.
Limits and rules
The main restriction is editorial rather than technical: the platform itself decides which of the three display models a given publication falls into, and that decision directly determines reach. The second is monetization by text: even if your channel's main format is video, that is not what you are paid for.
The legal framework is tied to Russia. Donations are withdrawn only to a Russian bank card; "Dzen Premium" requires a settlement account and a BIC, which implies the status of an individual entrepreneur, a legal entity or a self-employed person; awards are delivered to Russia and Belarus. The platform shifts responsibility for labelling advertising entirely onto the author: Dzen is not an ORD and does not issue tokens.
Keep the sanction for metric inflation separately in mind: under the platform's requirements, artificially inflating views, read-throughs and followers leads to the channel being blocked — not to a warning.
Who it's for
Dzen suits those who write text for a Russian-speaking audience and are ready to work with an algorithmic feed rather than with a follower base. The entry threshold for monetization is low — 30 hours of viewing from followers over 30 days — and, unlike most Russian platforms, the contract can be concluded as a private individual, without a tax status. For media outlets and sites with a stream of material, RSS delivery is valuable: content reaches the feed without manual transfer.
The platform is a poor fit for video authors: you can publish videos, but monetization does not apply to them. Nor will it suit those who run several projects and want to keep them under one login — one account equals one channel. Finally, if you are counting on stable reach across your followers, as in a messenger, you should revise your expectations: distribution here is decided by the algorithm.
Tools for this platform
The list is built from the tools' own facts: every line is a tool's statement that it supports the platform, with the source named. A tool missing from the list only means we have no such statement.
Other tasks:
- Perfluence — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Verified data
The checked data this deep dive rests on.
About the platform
the owner is VK LLC
This also determines the advertising infrastructure: promotion runs on VK Ads technology
source, checked 2026-07-28
Who's here
Monthly audience. 67 million users a MONTH; on average 26 minutes a day in the news; more than 5 000 media outlets cover events
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform reports 100 000 authors actively publishing content and 5 000 media outlets; the period the figures were calculated for is not stated
Complements the previously recorded 67 million MAU and 26 minutes a day
source, checked 2026-07-28
Getting started
registration and creating a channel; formats: articles, posts, short videos and videos; audience statistics and income dynamics are available, as is channel verification
source, checked 2026-07-27
Account and access
The help centre names two restrictions that apply to a channel from the start. First, you cannot publish until your contact details are confirmed; verbatim: «Перед созданием первой публикации может потребоваться подтверждение контакных данных» (our translation: before creating your first post you may need to confirm your contact details; the misspelling «контакных» is in the original help article). Second, the channel cover is unavailable; verbatim: «Установка обложек доступна, если у канала не менее 500 подписчиков» (our translation: setting covers is available if the channel has at least 500 subscribers). The help centre names neither a limit on posts per day nor compulsory pre-moderation of the first posts
The article «Creating and configuring» in the Dzen help centre for authors was read in full. Both restrictions are the platform's own statements. There is no daily post limit in that article; this does not prove that no limit exists — it proves that the article does not name one.
source, checked 2026-08-07
The channel cover opens up by subscriber count — «не менее 500 подписчиков» (verbatim; our translation: at least 500 subscribers). The right to a first post is unlocked by confirming contact details: phone and email are confirmed in the VK ID or Yandex ID account to which the channel is linked. Separately: monetisation is not connected straight away; the condition is 30 hours of viewing by subscribers over the last 30 days, and «Все заявки на подключение монетизации проходят обязательную проверку» (verbatim; our translation: every application to connect monetisation goes through a compulsory check)
The 500-subscriber threshold and the confirmation of contacts come from the article «Creating and configuring». The monetisation condition (30 hours of viewing by subscribers over 30 days and a compulsory check of the application) was read separately at https://dzen.ru/help/ru/monetization/conditions.html and is given here because it is the second thing closed to a new channel.
source, checked 2026-08-07
the channel name — up to 140 characters, the description — no more than 300 characters including spaces; up to 5 links to social network profiles; «each VK ID or Yandex ID account can have one Dzen channel linked to it»
One account = one channel: several projects require different accounts
source, checked 2026-07-28
the check mark is issued if at least one condition is met: being a media partner of Dzen News; a verified account on TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Telegram or VK with a thematic connection; a VK community with state-organisation status; a Wikipedia article with verifiable sources; at least 3 publications by federal media over a year. The application is reviewed within 30 days, and a refusal is possible without explanation
If the channel name or the monetization details change, the status has to be confirmed again
source, checked 2026-07-28
Business terms
SMMplanner, in its own publication of 21.04.2025, reports: «SMMplanner does not yet have functionality for managing posting to Dzen» — and offers a workaround through Dzen's official sync bot
A direct admission that an integration is missing — a rare case
source, checked 2026-07-28
What you can publish
media outlets can send publications from their own site through a marked-up RSS feed
A publishing channel with no manual work — important for media outlets
source, checked 2026-07-27
«Dzen for media» — sending publications from your own site through a marked-up RSS feed
source, checked 2026-07-27
avatar: PNG, JPG, BMP or WebP, up to 10 MB, at least 300 × 300 pixels, no animation and no transparent background. The channel cover is available FROM 500 FOLLOWERS: up to 10 MB, JPG/BMP/PNG, at least 1500 × 250 (6:1) for computers, 960 × 540 (16:9) for phones
source, checked 2026-07-28
Text length. The limits are given separately by kind of publication. An article: "The maximum length is 140 characters" (the title), "The maximum length of the text is 100,000 characters including spaces", "The maximum length of the description is 2,000 characters". A post: "The volume of a post is 4,096 characters with pictures (no more than 10 of them)", a poll — "The title is no more than 150 characters, and the length of an answer is up to 100 characters". A video: "The maximum length of the title is 140 characters", the description — "up to 5,000 characters, including spaces and punctuation marks". A channel: "The maximum number of characters in the title is 140", the description — "no more than 300 characters with spaces"
the limits for a post — https://dzen.ru/help/ru/channel/post.html , for a video — https://dzen.ru/help/ru/channel/video.html , for a channel — https://dzen.ru/help/ru/channel/channel-management.html Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Images. The channel cover image: "in JPG, BMP or PNG format; no more than 10 MB", for computers "with a resolution of no less than 1500 × 250 pixels; with an aspect ratio of 6:1", for telephones "with a resolution of no less than 960 × 540 pixels; with an aspect ratio of 16:9"; the cover image can be uploaded if the channel has no fewer than 500 subscribers. The avatar: "in PNG, JPG, BMP or WebP format; no more than 10 MB; with a resolution of no less than 300 × 300 pixels; without animation; with an opaque background". A picture in an article: "the width of the picture is from 300 pixels; the size of the picture is up to 30 MB". A picture in a post: "The maximum size of one picture is 30 MB", no more than 10 of them. The video cover image: jpg, 1920 × 1080 pixels
the possibility of uploading a channel cover image depends on the number of subscribers (no fewer than 500); the pictures of publications — https://dzen.ru/help/ru/channel/article.html and https://dzen.ru/help/ru/channel/post.html Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Video. The recommended encoding parameters: "MP4 format", "Place the moov atom at the start of the file (fast start), without edit lists", "The maximum permissible resolution is FullHD", "Size Up to 70 GB", "Frame rate The one the video was shot at, but no higher than 60 frames per second", "Video codecs H.264, progressive scan, without open GOPs", "Audio codecs AAC, stereo; Sampling rate: 96 kHz, 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz", "The volume of the audio track Below -12 LUFS". Clips (short vertical videos): an aspect ratio of 9:16, "The optimal resolution for clips is 720×1280 pixels, and the maximum is 1080×1920"
the platform calls these parameters recommended, but the size and the resolution are given as maximums; the requirements for Clips — https://dzen.ru/help/ru/mobile/short-video.html , and they can be shot only on a telephone Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Video: "The length of a video Up to 480 minutes". Clips: "The minimum length of a clip is 5 seconds, the maximum is 2 minutes", and moreover "If a vertical video in the 9:16 format lasting more than 120 seconds is uploaded, it will be published in the Video format". A broadcast: "A broadcast must not be longer than 8 hours"
a minimum is announced only for Clips; broadcasts — https://dzen.ru/help/ru/channel/vk-video-live.html Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
"From one to twenty videos can be uploaded to Dzen at once". The size of a video file — "Up to 70 GB". A picture in a post — "The maximum size of one picture is 30 MB", in one post "no more than 10 of them". A picture in an article — "up to 30 MB". The channel cover image and the avatar — "no more than 10 MB"
the number of files at a time is announced only for video (from 1 to 20) Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
The platform has no separate audio format: the requirements for audio are described as part of the video file — "Audio codecs AAC, stereo; Sampling rate: 96 kHz, 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz", "The volume of the audio track Below -12 LUFS". It is separately stipulated: "A video is uploaded by the length of the video track", and so the audio track must not be longer than the video sequence
there are requirements for audio, but audio is not an independent format of publication on Dzen Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Broadcasts go through VK Video: only two numerical requirements are announced — "The size of the resulting video must not exceed 70 GB" and "A broadcast must not be longer than 8 hours". When it ends "its recording will automatically appear in the channel in the horizontal video format". The help centre names neither a bit rate, nor a resolution, nor a protocol
there are no numerical requirements for the signal itself (bit rate, resolution, protocol) on the page Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Content
Automatically created content is itself prohibited, regardless of a label: Dzen prohibits content that is "wholly or almost wholly created automatically, without the participation of the author". The list includes "automatic translations from other languages without editing", "automatically generated texts", "automatically generated video voice-overs and audio tracks", and also material with "repeating words and phrases unconnected with each other". This is classed as spam — a "serious violation"
This is the strictest framing of the question encountered: not "label it" but "it is not allowed". The Dzen help centre is assembled in the browser: an ordinary GET returns a shell of about 1 KB without text, so the pages were read through WebFetch. The robots.txt of dzen.ru does not disallow these addresses. Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
For automatically created content: the posts are "shown only to subscribers"; further — "Dzen may block the post or even the whole channel — they will not be visible to anyone, even by a direct link"; "Channels and sites with a large amount of spam are unavailable on the platform"
The punishment is imposed not for a missing label (none is even required) but for the very fact of automatic generation. The Dzen help centre is assembled in the browser: an ordinary GET returns a shell of about 1 KB without text, so the pages were read through WebFetch. The robots.txt of dzen.ru does not disallow these addresses. Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
There is no separate rule about AI in the monetization terms. The general one: "If posts breach the requirements, Dzen may switch off their monetization. If there are many such breaches, the restriction extends to the whole channel". Since automatically created content is classed as spam and prohibited, it cannot be earned from
The monetization rules page was read: it contains no words about neural networks, AI or automatically created content. The conclusion that earning is impossible follows from the ban in the rules about spam and not from a direct wording by the platform itself — hence partial Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Promotion
«Promo in Dzen is a tool for promoting articles that runs on VK Ads technology»
INDEPENDENT CONFIRMATION of finding Dzen itself states that its promotion is built on VK Ads
source, checked 2026-07-27
Dzen has a document made obligatory by Russian law, "On the rules for the application of recommendation technologies by the content platform Dzen". Word for word: "The data used by Dzen's algorithms to take the decision to recommend one or another information material to a user includes subscriptions, the categories of the information materials liked, the number of accesses to an information material, and also similar parameters. Other factors may also be taken into account, such as generalized information about the preferences of users in that territory or the rate of growth of the popularity of a topic or of a particular information material." The mechanics are described step by step: "Mathematical models are applied (including for forming the feature space) which, by means of multifactor analysis, classification and the ranking of content features, make it possible to estimate the probability that an information material will be viewed to the end by a particular user"; "The selected information materials are ranked depending on the estimates of the probability of their being viewed in full by the user". In the help centre it is added: "The number of impressions and other statistical indicators depend on many additional factors, for example: the number of a channel's subscribers; the number of users potentially interested in the topic of the material; the audience's reaction to the post (read-throughs, views, likes); the popularity of the topic and so on"
the target quantity is named directly: the probability of a full view. The second group of quotations is from https://dzen.ru/help/ru/models.html Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
There is, and two documents at once. A legal one: "On the rules for the application of recommendation technologies by the content platform Dzen" (https://dzen.ru/legal/ru/recommendation-technologies/index.html). A help centre one: "Models of content display" (https://dzen.ru/help/ru/models.html) — a separate article about the conditions under which material is shown in the general feed, only to subscribers, or is not shown at all. Plus the section "Dzen's requirements" (https://dzen.ru/help/ru/requirements/rules.html), where every violation is directly linked to a display model
of the twelve platforms Dzen has the clearest link "violation → display model" Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
Word for word: "Users can influence the fact and the order of display of information materials, raising or lowering their rating, including by means of the following actions within the functionality provided: “like”, “subscribe”, “hide all posts of the channel”, “complain”"
no separate help centre article about setting up recommendations was found; the list of actions is taken from the legal document about recommendation technologies Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
Reduced distribution at Dzen is not a hint but a named model. Word for word: "In Dzen there are different models of content display... we have formed requirements for content and implemented two display models: Recommended in the feed, Recommended to subscribers"; "Content that does not meet the requirements for display in the Dzen feed will be recommended only to the channel's subscribers. We consider that if a user has subscribed to a channel, he agrees to see such posts in the subscriptions section"; "Content with serious violations is blocked without the possibility of restoration". On clickbait: "Clickbait in Dzen is the design of a card that induces one to open a post but deceives the user's expectations. We do not want to show posts of channels with clickbait in the general Dzen feed, so such material is available only to subscribers." And in the legal document: "Dzen's recommendation algorithms do not show users materials containing, among other things, tendentious headlines (so-called “clickbait”), explicit and shocking content"
the quotation about clickbait is from https://dzen.ru/help/ru/requirements/clickbait.html, the last one is from the legal document about recommendation technologies Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
It is set out in more detail than at most platforms, and with a direct consequence for distribution. Word for word: "Materials are considered duplicates: republished on the same channel; deleted from Dzen and published anew. Such posts will be shown only to the channel's subscribers." On other people's content: "Borrowed content includes posts: fully or almost fully coinciding in content with posts already placed in Dzen; published on several channels, even if all these channels belong to one author; videos with the watermarks of other platforms. Such posts will be shown only to the channel's subscribers. If the greater part of a channel's materials contains borrowed content, then all the posts of such a channel will be recommended only to subscribers." Advice: "A channel must not consist of borrowed content fully or almost fully. Every post must be valuable in itself for the audience"
it is separately stipulated that publishing one and the same thing on several of one's own channels also counts as borrowing Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
Dzen states the opposite directly — that it does disclose the mechanics. Word for word: "These Rules describe the mechanisms and principles of operation of Dzen's recommendation algorithms, and also disclose exactly what information about users is collected and used to form the recommendations." At the same time the list of signals is left open all the same: "and also similar parameters"; "Other factors may also be taken into account". It is also stipulated that part of the distribution comes not from Dzen: "On the Dzen page there are materials shown to users by third-party recommendation systems: the advertising platform myTarget and the Yandex advertising network"
the document was issued in fulfilment of the Russian law on recommendation technologies; the legal address for enquiries is [email protected] Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
three display models: recommended in the feed (visibility depends on the number of followers, audience interest and engagement metrics), recommended to followers only, and a block with no possibility of restoration
The most direct description of the algorithm from the platform itself
source, checked 2026-07-28
physical awards for 100 000, 500 000 and 1 000 000 followers; the conditions are an active channel with recent publications, the absence of restrictions, and a delivery zone of Russia and Belarus; a letter within a month, courier delivery within 4 weeks
The delivery zone is an indirect indication of the platform's main geography
source, checked 2026-07-28
Advertising
a «Partner material» label is placed in the interface, but it does not relieve the author of labelling the advertising themselves: Dzen is not an advertising data operator and does not issue tokens — the author must register with an ORD on their own
Legal responsibility for labelling rests entirely with the author
source, checked 2026-07-28
«Promo in Dzen» requires a channel, a VK Ads account and a link between them; CPC models (the objectives «Promote an article», «Subscribe to a channel», «Article read-through») and CPM (the «Reach and awareness» section); the minimum campaign duration is one week; an ad headline of up to 70 characters; promoting a channel requires an image of at least 600 × 600 pixels in PNG/JPG
source, checked 2026-07-28
viewing time generated by clicks from a promo does not count towards monetization income
Paid traffic cannot be used to make up the monetization threshold
source, checked 2026-07-28
Analytics
Statistics on publications in Studio: "Impressions — The number of times the publication was displayed in the Dzen feed", "Openings — Any openings of the publication from various sources", "Read-throughs and views — The number of users who viewed the publication to the end", "Subscriptions — The number of users who subscribed to the channel after viewing the publication", Comments, likes, "The number of users who pressed the Share button", "Viewing time". For articles — a "Read-through map" and "CTR in the feed"; for posts and videos — "VTR in the feed"; for video — "View depth"
robots.txt was checked separately: dzen.ru allows "Allow: /", with only /away, /search, /news/*, /user/, /games, /money and the like disallowed; the /help section is not closed. There are no separate groups for ClaudeBot Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
"For videos published before 1 June 2019, the metric Subscriptions after viewing is unavailable."
the word "unavailable" is said by the platform directly Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
The display thresholds are named as numbers: "Read-through map... The value is shown if the publication has gathered more than 100 read-throughs"; "View depth... The value is shown if the publication has gathered more than 100 views"
below a hundred read-throughs and below a hundred views these two metrics do not exist at all Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
Thresholds in geography: "if there is not enough data for some city or country, it will be shown in the field Other. This field takes in all cities with a value below 0.5% and all countries with a value below 0.1%"
an extremely rare case: the platform has named the threshold for hiding geography in fractions of a per cent Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
The dates before which there are no metrics: "You cannot view data earlier than 25 January 2022" (for subscribers); "You cannot view data on events earlier than 21 June 2021"; "Data on engaged viewing time has been counted since 1 August 2023. You cannot view information for earlier dates"; "Data on gender and age is displayed from 21 June 2021"
four different dates for four sets of metrics; the last quotation is from the page https://dzen.ru/help/ru/statistics/audience.html Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
The figures knowingly differ from what is visible under the publication: "All comments created during the selected period are counted, including deleted ones, so the number of real comments at the present moment may not match the number in the table"; the same for likes — "even if the users subsequently removed their marks". Plus "Viewing time is counted only for those publications on which no restrictions have been imposed"
Dzen warns directly that its own table will not agree with the counter under the post Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
Real-time statistics "do not go through preliminary processing and may contain robot and SEO traffic"; the data of this section "does not affect monetization"
that is, the fast figures and the money are counted from different data Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
Real time — "within the retention period of 30 calendar days". For subscribers — no earlier than 25 January 2022, for events — no earlier than 21 June 2021, for engaged viewing time — from 1 August 2023. The graph "When you are watched and read" — "only shown for the last 28 days"
the quotation about 30 days is from the page online.html, the one about 28 days from the page audience.html Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
The "Audience" tab: "How viewers find you" (Recommendations, the "Subscriptions" tab, Search in Dzen, the Mail.ru feed, the Dzen feed, Search engines, Social networks, Other sources), "When you are watched and read", "Gender and age" (female and male; under 18; 18–24; 25–34; 35–44; 45–54; 55 and over), "Devices", "Operating systems" (Android, Windows, iOS and others), "Geography" by cities and countries
the most detailed set of information about the audience among the twelve platforms checked Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
"Export statistics in XLS format"
the export is available straight from the dashboard, without API access Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
The real-time section: "The permissible time for updating the data is up to 5 minutes", there is no auto-refresh and the page has to be refreshed by hand. On viewing time: "the information on this metric is processed with a delay of 2 days". The statistics on subscribers "are updated once a day"
the second and third quotations are from the pages extended.html and audience.html; Dzen has three different update speeds for three sets of metrics Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
statistics include follower dynamics, extended data on publications, a breakdown of how income is accrued and audience characteristics (socio-demographic, geographic); hourly data for the last 48 hours, and figures for the last 24 hours may change after anti-fraud filtering
source, checked 2026-07-28
Ordinary statistics — in Studio, for any channel. Real-time statistics are available to partners "in the Media Studio"
the help centre section about real time is titled as intended for Dzen's partners; there is no separate list of the partnership conditions on that page Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-05
How the money works here
the only link to earning conditions from the help hub leads to the «Dzen Premium» section
Confirms finding the section is not called «monetization»
source, checked 2026-07-28
«Dzen Premium» — publishing exclusive content for premium subscribers
source, checked 2026-07-27
«Dzen Pro» — a USER subscription for removing advertising, not a tool for author income
Important not to confuse: the subscription is paid to the platform, not to the author
source, checked 2026-07-27
activating «Dzen Premium» requires active monetization and bank details (a settlement account and a BIC); the application is processed in 3 working days
A settlement account implies the status of an individual entrepreneur, a legal entity or a self-employed person — the same tie to legal status as at RUTUBE and MAX
source, checked 2026-07-27
exclusive content: video (horizontal and vertical) from 10 seconds, articles
source, checked 2026-07-27
the author creates their own subscription tiers; each higher tier includes all the content of the lower tiers
source, checked 2026-07-27
A TIER'S PRICE CANNOT BE CHANGED after it is created
A material restriction: a pricing mistake is irreversible. The author must know before launching
source, checked 2026-07-27
income is shown WITHOUT Dzen's fee DEDUCTED; the specific percentage of the fee is not given on the page
TRANSPARENCY GAP: the author sees the amount before the deduction, but the size of the deduction is not named
source, checked 2026-07-27
reports arrive within 7 working days of the following month; payouts within 15 working days
source, checked 2026-07-27
Who is admitted. "To start earning, you must accumulate 30 hours of viewing from subscribers over the last 30 days"; the requirement is repeated in the rules for monetizable content: "The channel's material has accumulated 30 hours of viewing from subscribers over the last 30 days". The contract is concluded in one of four statuses: individual, self-employed person, sole trader, legal entity; applications go through a quality check of the publications
a threshold on viewing time from subscribers; no separate requirement on the number of subscribers is stated on these pages Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Payout minimum. The thresholds differ by withdrawal method: "The minimum withdrawal amount is 400 roubles" to a bank card; "The minimum withdrawal amount to VK Pay is 10 roubles"; for the Faster Payments System, "The minimum amount for withdrawal is 10 roubles"
the page for the self-employed; for a card the threshold is 40 times higher than for the wallet and the Faster Payments System Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
How they pay. Three methods: a bank card (for residents of the Russian Federation, cards of Russian banks), VK Pay and the Faster Payments System by phone number
the methods are listed on the page for the self-employed
source, checked 2026-08-04
Dzen monetization (payment for the reading time of text material — articles and posts); "Dzen Premium"; "Dzen Donations". For video creators Dzen refers to VK Video
text formats are monetized; video has been moved to VK Video
source, checked 2026-08-04
the condition for activating monetization: «you must accumulate 30 hours of viewing from followers over the last 30 days»
CLOSES A GAP: the database previously said «thresholds could not be obtained». What counts is views specifically from followers
source, checked 2026-07-28
«Remuneration is accrued only for text formats — articles and posts. Videos and short videos are not monetized»
CRITICAL: basic monetization is unavailable to video authors
source, checked 2026-07-28
the contract is concluded in one of four ways: as a private individual, as a self-employed person, as an individual entrepreneur or as a legal entity; all of one author's channels must use the same method (a single taxpayer number); every application goes through a mandatory check
A difference from RUTUBE: the «private individual» option without a tax status is available
source, checked 2026-07-28
income is also accrued for time spent reading articles in the Odnoklassniki social network, provided there are no distribution restrictions
source, checked 2026-07-28
Ways to earn. five ways to earn: channel monetization (income from time spent viewing articles), native advertising, donations, «Dzen Premium», «Stellas»
source, checked 2026-07-28
donations are activated in the Studio by linking a card through VK Pay; withdrawal to a card with a 10% fee; the card must be issued by a Russian bank; the limit is up to 10 million rubles of donations a month; fundraising goals with an amount and a deadline are available
source, checked 2026-07-28
the Yandex affiliate programme «Yandex Advertising Network for bloggers» names Dzen among its supported platforms: from 1 000 followers, Russian residents only, in the status of a legal entity, an individual entrepreneur or a self-employed person
source, checked 2026-07-28
stated: «run your channel and earn income»; thresholds and conditions are not given in the general help
source, checked 2026-07-27
Creator's share. The percentage is not named. Dzen "distributes a share of its revenue among channels with monetization enabled" in proportion to reading time; the commission is counted in minutes of engaged viewing: "You receive a commission for the time users spend reading your content"
the creator's share as a percentage is not published on Dzen's official pages — only the principle of distribution is described Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
When they pay. There is no calendar schedule: "The volume of payouts for creators is formed daily", the balance is updated every day, "Funds can be withdrawn to a bank card and to electronic wallets at any time", and there is no limit on payouts. The actual crediting time is not named on the pages
withdrawal is at the creator's initiative at any time; the crediting times are not stated in the help centre Quoted text is our translation from Russian.
source, checked 2026-08-04
Where it is available. There is no list of countries. Monetization is built around Russian tax statuses (individual, self-employed person, sole trader, legal entity) and Russian payment instruments; for residents of the Russian Federation, withdrawal goes to cards of Russian banks
country coverage is not announced directly; the page for the self-employed separately stipulates Russian residency for cards
source, checked 2026-08-04
«Stellas» are support reactions; activation requires taking part in the monetization programme; the number is visible in «Statistics → Publications», the income on the «Income» tab. The exchange rate and the minimum amounts are NOT given on the page
The feature is confirmed, the economics are not disclosed
source, checked 2026-07-28
Paid subscriptions
the «Dzen Pro» subscription costs 159 ₽ per 30 days with automatic renewal (card or SBP); it turns off advertising and gives an AI assistant and extended comments; it is available in the web version and the Android app; cancellation no later than 24 hours before the next charge, and no refunds are provided
This is a USER subscription in the platform's favour, not a tool for author income
source, checked 2026-07-28
Restrictions
prohibited: material about gambling, calls for discrimination and insults on protected grounds, goods and services prohibited by law, advertising of alcohol and nicotine with distance selling, answers to the EGE and OGE exams, unoriginal content, explicit and shocking content, spam
source, checked 2026-07-28
sanctions in ascending order: display to followers only, switching off monetization for individual publications or for the whole channel, blocking the channel, and a full restriction for repeat violations. For artificially inflating views, read-throughs and followers the channel is BLOCKED; for material about accidents and tragedies monetization is switched off
Metric inflation is punished by a block, not by a warning
source, checked 2026-07-28
Moderation
The ladder: one post breaches the rules — «её увидят только подписчики» (only subscribers will see it); several posts or serious breaches — «все публикации будут показываться только подписчикам» (all posts will be shown only to subscribers), and income stops accruing; verbatim: «За многократное и/или грубое нарушение требований публикации перестанут показываться всем пользователям Дзена» (our translation: for repeated and/or gross breaches of the requirements, posts will stop being shown to all Dzen users). Serious breaches (spam, shock content, pornography, hate speech, piracy): a complete restriction of impressions, monetisation switched off, «Вы не сможете вывести деньги со счёта» (you will not be able to withdraw money from the account), and no re-review accepted
The page «Violations and their consequences»; no expiry periods are named — the restriction is lifted only by a re-review
source, checked 2026-08-07
For a post: Studio - Warnings - «Отправить на проверку» (submit for review); verbatim: «Отправить публикацию на перепроверку можно только один раз» (a post can be submitted for re-review only once), «Вы можете отправить до 15 публикаций в сутки. Кнопка будет активна в течение недели с того момента, как публикация была ограничена» (you may submit up to 15 posts a day; the button stays active for a week from the moment the post was restricted). For a channel: an application through the support form (the topic «Ограничения на канале» - «Отправить канал на проверку»), no more than three channel reviews a year, and channels with borrowed content are reviewed once; for serious violations applications are not accepted
A second page: dzen.ru/help/ru/requirements/how-to-remove-restrictions.html; what cannot be re-reviewed: copyright, duplicated content, link spam, and blocking at Roskomnadzor's demand
source, checked 2026-08-07
For a post, verbatim: «Перепроверка занимает около двух часов» (our translation: a re-review takes about two hours). For a channel no period is named; verbatim: «Проверка полностью автоматизирована, ускорить процесс технически невозможно» (our translation: the check is fully automated and it is technically impossible to speed it up)
The result arrives as a notification or a letter to the registration email
source, checked 2026-08-07
API access
official cross-posting from Telegram through the zen_sync_bot bot: the Telegram channel must be public, one Telegram channel is linked to one Dzen channel, media files up to 20 MB, the headline becomes the first sentence of the post at up to 140 characters, formatting is not carried over; automatic and manual modes; UTM utm_source=Zen_Posts
The only official automated publishing mechanism apart from RSS for media outlets
source, checked 2026-07-28
voice messages, polls, reposts, advertising with an ERID tag and video notes are not published; articles are assembled from «text + images» and «text + video», posts only from «text + images»
source, checked 2026-07-28
metrics
Dzen distinguishes four concepts, verbatim: «Показы — Число отображений публикации в ленте Дзена» (our translation: impressions — the number of times the post is displayed in the Dzen feed); «Просмотры» of a post — «Число пользователей, которые прочитали текст или посмотрели приложенные изображения» (our translation: views — the number of users who read the text or looked at the attached images); views of video — «Количество пользователей, которые посмотрели видео» (our translation: the number of users who watched the video); «Дочитывания — Количество пользователей, которые просмотрели публикацию до конца» (our translation: read-throughs — the number of users who viewed the post to the end). Views are counted in users (unique), impressions in displays; no threshold in seconds is published
The quotations were checked against the HTML of the help page; the same place gives VTR: «Отношение числа просмотров публикации к числу её показов в ленте Дзена» (the ratio of a post's views to its impressions in the Dzen feed) and CTR: «Отношение числа кликов по карточке публикации к числу её показов в ленте Дзена» (the ratio of clicks on the post's card to its impressions in the Dzen feed)
source, checked 2026-08-07
Engagement is disclosed only through retention and time: the retention graph shows (verbatim) «вовлеченность аудитории в просмотр видео» (our translation: the audience's engagement in watching the video) — up to which fragment interest is retained; «вовлечённое время просмотра» (engaged viewing time) is counted separately (the data has been collected since 1 August 2023). No list of actions and no engagement formula is published
partial: the concept exists but the composition of the actions is undefined; «Время просмотра — Столько времени пользователи потратили на просмотр публикаци(и). Показатель лежит в основе расчёта начислений автору» (verbatim, with the typo in the original; our translation: viewing time — this much time users spent viewing the post. The metric underlies the calculation of payments to the author)
source, checked 2026-08-07
Catalogue section: all similar See also: catalogue index · region: Russia and CIS · scheduler comparison · find by situation · platform restrictions