Kaskus
Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.
Overview
Kaskus is an Indonesian forum that describes itself as «a place to share your hobbies and live in communities — the first and largest in Indonesia». The mobile version puts the same thing more briefly: «a forum for discussing hobbies, home to thousands of communities and the centre for buying and selling hobby goods in Indonesia». It belongs to the company PT Darta Media Indonesia.
The structure is classic forum: sections ("community forums"), topics ("threads"), replies, private messages, moderators drawn from the members. On top of that sits a trading part: for-sale listings are posted right inside the themed communities.
The main point about marketing: advertising goods and services on the forum is banned outright, and advertising signatures under posts do not exist as a technical capability. The wording is severe, and the sanction is a block.
The links in this article lead to the open programmatic interface of Kaskus's help centre — the same help articles in machine-readable form.
Who's here
Kaskus publishes no audience figures on its open pages. There are only qualitative claims from the platform itself: «millions of people use KASKUS to look for information, share hobbies, join communities and interact with them, and carry out buying and selling transactions» and «Indonesia's largest online community site». The platform gives neither a member count, nor traffic, nor a breakdown by age.
The language is Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia); the site offers no English version. The jurisdiction is Indonesian: the terms cite Law No. 27 of 2022 of the Republic of Indonesia on personal data protection and Law No. 44 of 2008 on pornography. A separate category of prohibitions, characteristic of Indonesia, is SARA (suku, agama, ras, antargolongan: ethnicity, religion, race, inter-group relations): discussing material of that kind in any form — in words, images, video or an avatar — is banned.
Getting started
Registration is free, but you cannot post straight away: after registering you need to open the email from KASKUS and either follow the confirmation link or enter a one-time code; if the email does not arrive, support can help — within up to one working day. A username cannot be changed, except where it contains characters outside the Latin alphabet and digits, or was issued automatically on registering through a social network. The terms add that the username and the numeric identifier belong to KASKUS, and in a dispute the decision is taken by the platform.
There is no separate business account. For companies there is only one way in — the advertising department.
Creating a community of your own is not available immediately: you need at least 5 topics and at least 20 posts; blocked users do not get the feature. The name must be unique, made up of Latin letters, digits and spaces, and must not contain SARA, insults, gambling or pornography.
What you can publish
The formats: text, images, video, live chat. Video length and mailbox size depend on the subscription — the figures are in the monetization section.
What is banned. The terms list the content a member undertakes not to post: knowingly false and misleading information, promotion of illegal activity, threats and defamation; material showing prejudice and hatred on SARA grounds; sending spam; promoting other people's protected works without permission; pornography and material exploiting people under 18; impersonating another person or organisation, false statements about your age or about affiliation; third parties' personal data; malicious code.
Note the point about false statements of affiliation: working "as an ordinary user" while concealing a connection to a brand falls under the ban on deception, not only under the ban on advertising.
The trading part lives by its own rules: advertising and promoting goods is allowed in a community that matches the subject, at the member's own responsibility; the item must come with a clear and honest description stating the price, the location and a phone number; a link to a platform for the transaction may be attached if it is a reliable online shop. Trading in goods and animals prohibited by Indonesian law is banned. The platform disclaims responsibility for this: KASKUS provides no means for carrying out transactions and has no connection with those who open "joint accounts" for settlements.
How to grow
The rules on advertising: what they say word for word
Kaskus's general rules contain an "Advertising / Iklan" section, and it leaves no room for interpretation: [«any kind of advertising of goods or services by any means, in the form of text or images, on the kaskus forum is prohibited. The offender is issued a warning; if the advertising activity does not stop, the offender receives a username block or an IP address block. To place advertising on the Kaskus site, contact sales[at]kaskusnetworks.com»](https://bantuan.kaskus.co.id/api/v2/help_center/id/articles/231735787.json).
Private messages are closed off in the same way: «advertising or offering goods and services through private messages (PM) or visitor messages (VM), in the form of text or images, on the kaskus forum is prohibited», and the sanction is the same — a warning, then a block.
A third technique, familiar from other forums, is disabled technically: «Kaskus does not provide a signature feature, in order to keep the site tidy and save on the database, so any kind of manual signature — as text or as an image — is not permitted on Kaskus. Members using a manual signature for personal purposes or for promotion will receive a block or have their account deleted».
And a fourth point that agencies should bear in mind: using the Kaskus name and acting on its behalf in personal or group interests without the platform's permission is PROHIBITED (commerce, collecting donations and so on). The phrase "official Kaskus partner" without a contract is a violation in its own right.
The upshot: apart from for-sale listings in the relevant community, the only lawful route to promotion is paid placement through the sales department. There are no rates on the open pages.
Moderation
It is decentralised: a moderator may close and delete topics temporarily or permanently, report offenders and set rules that apply within their own community; a member is obliged to read each category's rules and not to bump their own topic up the list more often than is permitted there. The general rules confirm it: «every forum run by a local moderator has its own rules».
Sanctions are applied in stages: blocks of up to three days are issued straight away, while longer ones come in steps: first a preliminary three-day block, then the next step, up to a permanent one. An appeal is provided for, but the general rules warn: «as for a username that has received a block, do not expect it to be activated again».
Path to monetization
Kaskus does not pay authors: there is no share of ad revenue, no partner programme and no payments for views on the open pages. The terms mention an internal balance: Kaspay is a mechanism for rewards and for KASKUS's loyalty programme for members; the funds are held digitally and can be withdrawn on the member's request. The document names neither the conditions for earning them nor withdrawal thresholds.
Money on Kaskus moves in the other direction. The paid KASKUS Plus subscription costs, according to its own page, 30,000 rupiah for a month, 80,000 for 3 months, 150,000 for 6 months and 300,000 for 12 months. What it gives you: an exclusive badge, an avatar frame and emoticons, automatic reveal of content marked NSFW, saving pages in the app, mentioning up to 10 users instead of 3, uploading video up to 10 minutes long instead of 5, up to 20 drafts instead of 5 and a mailbox for 50,000 messages instead of 10,000.
There is a discrepancy here: on the home page the same subscription is advertised with the words «win lots of things for 25 thousand a month», while the subscription's own page names 30,000 rupiah for a month. Which of the two figures is in force the open pages do not explain.
Tools and automation
Kaskus offers no open programmatic interface for publishing: there is no developer documentation on the pages we checked, and the terms expressly ban copying the service or its content to create a site, product or service similar to KASKUS, and licensing, selling, distributing or exploiting them for commercial purposes without the platform's written consent.
Automation from the server's side is under control too: the Kaskus server has an attack detection program, and if your IP address and username end up on the blacklist they will be blocked PERMANENTLY, while for the damage caused the platform will also take the legal route.
We found no scheduling or analytics tools with confirmed support for Kaskus.
Limits and rules
- Advertising. Any advertising of goods and services on the forum is banned, including through private messages and visitor messages; there is one route — the sales department.
- Signatures and the platform's name. There is no signature feature, manual signatures lead to a block or account deletion; acting on Kaskus's behalf without permission is banned.
- Sales. Allowed in the relevant community with an honest description, a price, a location and a phone number; the platform bears no responsibility for the transaction.
- Avatar and name. Pornographic avatars and names, and ones provoking SARA, are banned; 1×24 hours are given to change them, otherwise a block.
- Deleting an account. A deleted username can be restored by signing in within 30 days; after that it cannot be, and all the material created remains on KASKUS.
- Changes to the rules. «These rules may change at any moment without prior notice», and decisions under them are «absolute and not open to challenge».
Who it's for
It suits companies with a product offering for the Indonesian market that are ready to work honestly and openly: a listing in the relevant community with a price, a city and a phone number is a lawful format, described directly in the rules. It suits brands with an advertising budget for Indonesia: paid placement through the sales department is the only scalable channel.
It does not suit a "soft" brand-voice presence: there is no advertising in a signature, in private messages or in topics. It does not suit agencies working in the guise of ordinary users — a false statement of affiliation is banned separately by the terms. It does not suit automation: there is no interface, and robot activity is pursued.
Verified data
The checked data this deep dive rests on.
About the platform
the platform describes itself like this: «Forum diskusi hobi, rumah ribuan komunitas dan pusat jual beli barang hobi di Indonesia.»
Self-description: this is the platform's claim about itself, not an independent assessment
source, checked 2026-07-28
matches the record in the database: «Forum diskusi hobi, rumah ribuan komunitas dan pusat jual beli barang hobi di Indonesia.»
No discrepancies with the database were found
source, checked 2026-07-28
Account and access
after registering, the account has to be activated by email or a one-time code; if that fails, support helps within one working day
A username cannot be changed, except in two cases
source, checked 2026-07-28
blocks of up to three days are issued straight away, longer ones in stages: first a preliminary 3-day block, then the next step, up to a permanent one
An appeal is provided for
source, checked 2026-07-28
a deleted username can be restored by signing in within 30 days; after that restoration is impossible, but all the material created remains on KASKUS
The terms, the «Konten» section
source, checked 2026-07-28
Business terms
advertising and promoting an item is allowed in a community matching the subject, at the member's own responsibility; a clear and honest description with the price, location and phone number is required
The only free commercial format permitted
source, checked 2026-07-28
to create a community you need at least 5 topics and at least 20 posts; blocked users do not get the feature
A community name may use only Latin letters, digits and spaces
source, checked 2026-07-28
Content
false and misleading information, promotion of illegal activity, SARA material, sending spam, pirated content, pornography, false statements about your age or about affiliation, third parties' personal data and malicious code are banned
The point about false affiliation closes off working «as an ordinary user»
source, checked 2026-07-28
How the money works here
the platform does not pay authors; the terms mention only the internal Kaspay balance for rewards and the loyalty programme, withdrawable on the member's request
The conditions for crediting it, and the thresholds and timings for withdrawal, are not described
source, checked 2026-07-28
Paid subscriptions
the subscription gives an exclusive badge, an avatar frame and emoticons, automatic NSFW reveal, saving pages in the app, mentioning up to 10 users instead of 3, video up to 10 minutes instead of 5, 20 drafts instead of 5, a mailbox for 50,000 messages instead of 10,000
The values without a subscription are given in the same place
source, checked 2026-07-28
Pricing
Sources diverge: KASKUS Plus: 30,000 rupiah for 1 month, 80,000 for 3 months, 150,000 for 6 months, 300,000 for 12 months
A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN SOURCES: the home page kaskus.co.id advertises the same subscription as «25 ribu/bulan»
source, checked 2026-07-28
Restrictions
the general rules: «any kind of advertising of goods or services by any means, in the form of text or images, on the kaskus forum is prohibited»; a warning, then a username or IP block; for advertising — [email protected]
KEY. The HTML page is closed behind a bot check, so we read the help centre's open API
source, checked 2026-07-28
advertising or offering goods and services through private messages (PM) and visitor messages (VM) is banned; the sanction is a warning, then a block
The Private / Visitor Message section
source, checked 2026-07-28
there is no signature feature; any manual signatures are banned, and using them for personal purposes or for promotion leads to a block or account deletion
The reason is stated: keeping the site tidy and saving on the database
source, checked 2026-07-28
using the Kaskus name and acting on its behalf in personal or group interests without permission is banned (commerce, collecting donations and so on)
The phrase «official Kaskus partner» without a contract is a violation
source, checked 2026-07-28
Legal
the terms cite Law No. 27 of 2022 of the Republic of Indonesia on personal data protection and Law No. 44 of 2008 on pornography; a separate category of prohibitions is SARA
SARA: ethnicity, religion, race, inter-group relations
source, checked 2026-07-28
Languages
the interface language of the home page: id
The language is taken from the markup attribute, the versions from hreflang
source, checked 2026-07-28
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