Zhihu

Site Introduction

The largest Q&A community on the Chinese internet, launched in 2011, with the slogan "Where there is a question, there is an answer."

Job changes, graduate school selection, tech product purchases, relationship dilemmas—search and you can often find long answers with real personal experience + professional analysis.

Core Features

1. Questions and Discussion

Ask questions, write answers, comment, and upvote. Highly upvoted answers rank higher. You can use @ to invite specific users to answer. After following topics and people, the homepage feed becomes increasingly accurate.

2. Yanxuan Membership Content

Yanxuan (Salt Selection) is Zhihu's paid content system: web fiction short stories, columns, Live lectures, e-books, and magazines. Some answers/stories have a paywall; you need a membership to read the full text.

3. Diverse Creation Formats

Besides Q&A, there are column articles, Thoughts (short posts), and videos. The Trending list aggregates the hottest discussions across the site every day, making it easy to keep up with what's trending.

4. Creator and Commercial Tools

The Creator Center manages levels and data analysis. Product Recommendations lets you attach product links and earn commissions. Zhi+ is the official paid promotion tool (to boost content exposure, aimed at advertisers). Organization Accounts are for enterprises and media.

Pricing Model

Basic usage: free.

After registration, you can ask, answer, and browse most content for free. Pages have ads, and some premium content prompts you to subscribe.

Yanxuan Membership:

Membership benefits include: unlimited reading of Yanxuan columns/stories, Live lectures, thousands of e-books, selected magazines, community badges, and more. Content is viewed in the Zhihu App or the Yanyan Story App.

Other paid/promotional options (subject to in-app display):

• Youth Card / Student Annual Card: Eligible students can get an annual card for about ¥98/year (requires verification through CHSI, not a permanently fixed price)
• Zhihu Live: Pay-per-session lectures, price varies by session
• During major promotions (Double 11, anniversaries, etc.), annual cards often have discounts, not fixed

Pricing may change; please refer to the website: https://www.zhihu.com/xen/market/vip-privileges

Comparison with Similar Platforms

Unique Advantages

1. Largest pool of in-depth Chinese content — the same question often has multiple long answers of over a thousand words, with higher information density than short-post platforms
2. Mature ecosystem of professional answerers — practitioners and former practitioners from various industries are willing to write about their "personal experiences"
3. High search visibility — when searching Chinese questions on Baidu/Google, Zhihu results appear very frequently

Practical Highlights

• Trending list gives a quick look at what the whole internet is discussing each day, more efficient than scrolling through social feeds
• Yanxuan short stories have a good reputation in the online fiction community; at ¥19/month, the membership is quite worthwhile for casual reading

Objective Limitations

1. More ads and paywalls — free users often encounter "The following content is only available to Yanxuan members"
2. Difficult for ordinary answerers to monetize directly — without signing with Yanxuan or obtaining product recommendation privileges, writing answers doesn't bring income
3. Inconsistent content quality — low-effort posts, plagiarized content, and promotional soft ads are mixed in with high-quality answers

Comparison with Similar Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Can I use Zhihu without a membership?
Yes. Most Q&A content is free to view, and asking and answering are free. Only content marked as Yanxuan (paid columns/stories) requires a membership. The new user first-month price of ¥9 is affordable for trying it out.

Q2: Are Yanxuan Membership and Zhihu Membership the same thing?
Yes. They are now unified under the name Yanxuan Membership, which includes stories, columns, Live, e-books, and other benefits. You can subscribe on the membership page.

Q3: How can I earn money from writing answers?
High-upvote answers do not directly pay you. Main paths: sign as a Yanxuan author for payment and revenue sharing, enable Product Recommendations to attach product links and earn commissions, or have enterprises/organizations use Zhi+ to promote your content. All have significant thresholds.

Q4: Why can I only see half of some answers?
Those are Yanxuan paid content. The author has embedded a story or column in the answer, and non-members can only see the free portion. The beginning usually has a hook to entice you to subscribe.

Q5: What is the difference between Zhihu and Quora?
Both are Q&A communities, but Zhihu is primarily Chinese-language content, with more localized features like Yanxuan stories, trending list, and product recommendations. Quora is mainly in English and less convenient to access from China.

Q6: Are there discounts for students?
Yes, there is a Youth Card / Student Annual Card. After verification, it costs about ¥98/year, much cheaper than the standard annual card at ¥198. The entry is on the membership page in the app and requires CHSI verification; promotion rules are subject to in-app display.

Q7: How can I judge whether an answer is reliable?
Look at the upvote count, the answerer's profile and past answers, and whether there are specific details and data. For promotional answers, watch for product links at the end. For medical or legal topics, verify from multiple sources and don't rely on a single answer.