The Medium Top Writer badge is one of those status markers that looks more important from the outside than it feels from the inside. I say this as someone who earned it in multiple categories — Technology, Writing, Productivity, and Creativity — and watched the effect it had on my earnings, my reach, and my ego. The effect was real in some ways and completely imaginary in others.

If you're chasing the Medium Top Writer badge, this article will tell you exactly how to get it. And then it will tell you the more important thing: whether it's worth the chase.

How the Medium Top Writer system used to work — and what changed

Medium used to assign Top Writer badges by category. If you published consistently in a specific topic and your articles performed well, Medium tagged you as a Top Writer in that category. The badge appeared on your profile. Medium emailed you when you earned it — a nice little dopamine hit.

I earned Top Writer in Technology, Writing, Productivity, and Creativity. It felt like a big deal at the time.

Then Medium removed the Top Writer tags entirely. The category-specific badges no longer exist. Medium simplified their system — there's no per-topic recognition anymore. What remains is a general "Top Writer" status that's less visible and less meaningful than the old category badges were.

This matters because a lot of advice you'll find online still references the old system. "How to become a Top Writer in Self Improvement" — that's not a thing anymore. The strategies that earned those badges still work for growing on Medium, but the specific badge reward is gone.

What I'm sharing below is what those strategies are — because even without the badge, they're still the fastest way to grow your reach and earnings on Medium. The badge was always a byproduct. The underlying system is what matters.

What it takes to become a Medium Top Writer

Based on my experience and watching dozens of other writers earn the badge, here's what consistently works:

Publish frequently in one or two categories. Medium needs enough data to evaluate your performance. That means multiple articles per month in the same category. When I earned my first Medium Top Writer badge (in Technology), I was publishing three to four tech-focused articles per week. Volume alone doesn't guarantee the badge, but you can't earn it with one article a month.

Get genuine engagement. Claps, responses, and reading time all matter. An article that gets a thousand claps from people who actually read it signals more to Medium's system than an article that gets fifty claps from engagement pods. The algorithm is smarter than most writers think — it can distinguish between genuine reading engagement and superficial interaction.

Write for the right audience. Each category has its own reader demographic. Technology readers want specific, practical, informed takes — not vague opinions about AI. Writing readers want craft advice from someone who clearly practices what they preach. Match the tone and depth that each category's audience expects.

Tag your articles correctly. Medium uses tags to categorize your articles. If you want the Medium Top Writer badge in Technology, your articles need to be tagged with Technology (and related tags like Programming, Software, AI). Incorrect or vague tagging means your articles aren't being counted toward the category you're targeting.

Maintain consistency over time. The badge rewards sustained performance, not peaks. I've seen writers earn the badge, stop publishing for two weeks, and lose it. Medium wants active contributors, not occasional visitors. If you earn it, you need to keep publishing to keep it.

The categories where it's easiest (and hardest) to earn

Not all categories are equally competitive. Some have fewer active writers and lower performance thresholds. Others are battlegrounds.

Easier categories: Niche topics like Data Science, UX Design, Cryptocurrency, and specific programming languages have smaller pools of active writers. If you publish consistently with genuine expertise, you can earn the badge relatively quickly — sometimes within four to six weeks of focused publishing.

Harder categories: Writing, Self Improvement, Productivity, and Life Lessons are the most saturated categories on Medium. Thousands of active writers compete for the badge. You need consistently high-performing content over months to break through. I covered which categories perform best for earnings in my best topics on Medium guide.

Strategic approach: Start with a less competitive category where you have genuine expertise. Earn the badge there first. The credibility transfers — a "Top Writer in Data Science" badge makes you look authoritative even when you write about broader topics.

Does the Medium Top Writer badge affect earnings

Here's where the honest part gets uncomfortable: the direct impact on earnings is small.

When I earned my first Top Writer badge, I expected a noticeable bump in reads and income. It didn't happen. My earnings the month after earning the badge were roughly the same as the month before — within normal fluctuation. The badge itself doesn't trigger algorithmic boost, additional distribution, or preferred placement in recommendations.

The indirect impact is more meaningful. The badge adds credibility to your profile, which slightly increases the chance that someone browsing your profile will follow you. More followers mean more people see your new articles in their feed. That creates a slow, compounding growth effect. But it's slow — measured in months, not days.

My earnings trajectory looked like this:

  • Month before first badge: $340
  • Month of badge: $380
  • Three months after: $520
  • Six months after: $870

Was that growth because of the badge? Partly. But it was mostly because the same behaviors that earned the badge — consistent publishing, improving quality, category focus — also naturally grow earnings. The badge is a byproduct of doing the right things, not the cause of the results.

Does it affect visibility

Medium's internal distribution system — the algorithm that decides which articles appear in people's feeds, email digests, and topic pages — does not appear to use the Medium Top Writer badge as a ranking signal. I've tested this by comparing the distribution of articles published before and after earning the badge, and the difference is negligible.

What does affect distribution: article quality, engagement signals, publication placement, and your follower count. The badge correlates with these factors (because the same behaviors drive all of them) but doesn't independently boost them.

Where the badge does affect visibility: your profile page. When someone lands on your profile and sees "Top Writer in Technology, Writing, Productivity," it creates instant credibility. That matters for converting profile visitors into followers. But the badge doesn't get more people to your profile in the first place.

The real value — credibility and social proof

The honest value of the Medium Top Writer badge is social proof. It's a third-party endorsement from a platform with millions of readers. You can use it in your bio, your newsletter, your about page, your product pages.

"Top Writer on Medium in Technology" carries more weight with potential readers than "I write about technology." It's specific, verifiable, and granted by an external authority. That matters for building trust, especially with people discovering you for the first time.

I use my Top Writer status in my author bios, in the credibility section of my digital product pages, and occasionally in article introductions when the context warrants it. It's not the most important thing on my resume, but it's a useful piece of social proof that costs nothing to maintain (as long as you keep writing).

For the full strategy on how to write articles that perform well enough to earn badges and meaningful income, I put together my Medium Growth Guide — it covers everything from headline strategy to publication placement to the SEO angle that most Medium writers ignore.

Multiple badges vs. single-category focus

Some writers aim for one Medium Top Writer badge. Others collect them across many categories. Both approaches work, but the strategic implications are different.

A single-category badge signals deep expertise. "Top Writer in Programming" tells readers you're a serious technical writer. It attracts a specific audience that knows exactly what they'll get from your profile. This approach works best if your writing focuses tightly on one subject area.

Multiple badges signal range and prolific output. Having badges in Technology, Writing, Productivity, and Creativity (as I do) signals that you're a versatile writer with a broad body of work. This approach works better if you write across multiple related topics and want to attract a wider audience.

The trade-off: maintaining multiple badges requires publishing across all those categories consistently. If you stop writing about Productivity for a month to focus on Technology, you might lose the Productivity badge. I've lost and re-earned badges several times. It bothered me at first. Now I treat it as a natural fluctuation that reflects where my writing energy is focused at any given time.

My recommendation for most writers: start with one category. Earn the badge. Then expand to adjacent categories naturally as your writing interests evolve. Don't force yourself into categories just for the badge — readers can tell when you're writing outside your genuine expertise.

Should you chase the badge

My direct advice: don't chase the badge. Chase the behaviors that earn the badge.

Publish consistently. Write in focused topic areas. Create genuinely useful, well-researched content. Engage with the Medium community — read other writers, leave thoughtful responses, participate in publications. These behaviors grow your audience, increase your earnings, and improve your writing. The Medium Top Writer badge is just the cherry on top.

If you're obsessing over the badge while neglecting the fundamentals — writing quality, publishing consistency, audience understanding — you're optimizing for the wrong thing. The badge follows the work. It doesn't replace it.

Writers who earn the badge and keep it are the ones who would be doing the exact same things even if the badge didn't exist. They publish because they have something to say. They write in specific categories because that's their expertise. They engage because they genuinely enjoy the platform. The badge is a natural consequence of caring about the craft and showing up consistently.

My honest take after years with the badge

The Medium Top Writer badge made me feel good for about a week. Then it became part of my profile and I stopped thinking about it. The real satisfaction came from what earned it — a body of work I'm proud of, a growing audience that finds my writing useful, and a publishing system that generates consistent income.

If you're a new Medium writer wondering whether the badge is worth pursuing: focus on writing well and publishing consistently. The badge will come if you do those things. And if it doesn't, you'll still have a growing audience and meaningful earnings — which is what actually matters.

For more on whether Medium is worth your time at all, I wrote an honest assessment: is Medium worth it in 2026. And for the practical strategy that drives both badges and real income, the best topics guide is where I'd start.

A writer is nothing without a reader. If you found this helpful, consider becoming my dear email friend. Nothing would make me happier.