How to level up your Steam account fast
Your Steam level shows on your profile next to your name, and it is the one number on Steam you can raise as fast as you like. Here is what a higher level gets you, where XP comes from, and the quickest way to climb.
1. What a higher level gives you
- More friend slots. Every level adds five to the number of friends your account can have.
- Profile showcases. The first showcase slot opens at level 10, and you get another every ten levels after that, to show off games, items, badges or artwork.
- A better chance of booster packs. Steam drops trading card booster packs to active users, and the chance goes up every ten levels.
- A badge to show for it. The circle around your level changes colour and shape every ten levels, and a high level marks an established account to the people you trade with.
2. Where XP comes from
Nearly all Steam XP comes from crafting badges.
- Game badges. Each game with trading cards has a badge, crafted from one full set of its cards. Every craft is worth 100 XP, and you can craft a game’s badge up to level 5, so one game is worth up to 500 XP. Each craft also gives you a random reward item, such as a profile background or an emoticon.
- Foil badges. A set of the rarer foil cards crafts a foil badge, once per game, for another 100 XP. Foil cards are scarce, so this is a slow way to level.
- Event badges. Some Steam sales and events come with a badge of their own, earned by taking part or crafted from event cards. Our holiday bots trade those event sets.
- Other Steam badges, such as the Steam Community badge for completing tasks on your profile and the Years of Service badge, add a little XP too.
Card drops from playing your own games are free but slow: a game drops only about half its set, so you still have to buy or trade for the rest.
3. How much a level costs
Each level costs more than the one before. Levels 1 to 10 cost 100 XP each, one card set a level. Levels 11 to 20 cost 200 XP each, two sets a level, and every further block of ten costs another 100 XP a level. Going from level 0 to 100 takes 550 sets; going from 340 to 341 alone takes 35.
For your own numbers, use the Steam Level Calculator. It gives the XP, the sets and the cost in TF2 keys at today’s best bot rate.
4. The fastest way: a level up bot
A level up bot is a Steam account that holds thousands of complete card sets and trades them to you, automatically, any time of day. It only sends sets for badges you have not finished, so every set it sends becomes a badge craft. You pay in TF2 keys (some bots also take gems or TF2 Tour of Duty tickets), and a few hundred sets arrive in one trade offer.
Bots charge different rates, written as sets per key: 20:1 means 20 sets for one TF2 key. A higher number is a cheaper level. See today’s cheapest Steam level up bots, or the full level up bot list with every bot’s stock and max level.
5. Step by step
- Work out what you need. Put your level and your target into the Steam Level Calculator.
- Turn on the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator if it is not on already. Without it Steam can hold traded items for days, and a bot may decline the trade.
- Get your TF2 keys. You can buy TF2 keys at Gameza Level Up, the shop run by the same people as SteamTradeX. See also how to buy TF2 keys safely.
- Pick a bot from the cheapest level up bots with enough sets in stock and a max level at or above your target.
- Add it on Steam and ask first. Type
!checkin chat to see how many sets it can give you, and!level 50to see how many it takes to reach level 50. Each bot’s commands are on bot commands. - Buy. Type
!buytf 2to spend 2 TF2 keys. The bot sends a trade offer: check that it gives you card sets and asks only for the keys you meant to spend, then accept it. - Craft your badges. Open Badges from your Steam profile and craft each badge that is ready. Your level goes up as you craft.
Questions
How fast can I level up?
As fast as you can craft. A bot sends the sets in one trade offer, usually within minutes of being paid, and the levels arrive the moment you craft the badges.
Is it allowed?
Trading cards are made to be traded, and crafting badges from traded sets is how Steam’s system works. Trade only through Steam trade offers, and never give anybody your password or a Steam Web API key.
What happens to the extra items from crafting?
Each craft gives a profile background, an emoticon or a coupon. Backgrounds and emoticons you do not want can be turned into gems: see how to sell Steam gems.