Source-backed analysis7
Review basis
Research-based review: the AppDuo Editorial Team compiled it from official pages, documentation, app stores, press and user feedback, without hands-on testing. Every claim links to a source with the date it was checked.
7 reference sourcesInformation updated Nov 10, 2026
How we review
Hacker News Review
Y Combinator's minimalist forum for tech and startup news
By AppDuo Editorial Team · Updated
- Web
- API
On this page
Decide at a glance
Our verdict
Hacker News suits people who want to follow and discuss tech, programming and startups on a lean, free site with clear rules. The trade-off is almost no personalisation, no official app, and English-only content.
Best for: Developers, product people and founders who want technical news with in-depth discussion
Skip it if: Anyone who needs an official mobile app or topic filtering; the front page offers only new, past, comments, ask, show and jobs
Pros
- Free, with no paid plan on any official page
- Clear community guidelines: comments should be kind and substantive; generated text and vote solicitation are banned
- Official Firebase-backed API, MIT-licensed repository, with no rate limit at present
Cons
- No official app; the FAQ mentions neither an app nor an API, and the API is documented only on GitHub
- Owned and funded by Y Combinator; the FAQ acknowledges YC job ads and startup launches appear on the front page
All pros and cons · Who is it for?
Pros
- Minimal data collection: an email address only if you choose to provide one
Cons
- Posts can be hidden without notice: Wikipedia reports the site uses stealth banning
Best for
- Readers who prefer a text-only, no-frills interface
- Developers who want public data through the official API, which currently has no rate limit
Skip it if
- People who want to talk politics, sports or celebrity news; the guidelines treat most of these as off-topic
Problems it solves
Experience & key features
What Hacker News is
Hacker News is a news and discussion forum owned and funded by Y Combinator. According to Wikipedia, Paul Graham launched it on 19 February 2007 as Startup News and renamed it Hacker News on 14 August 2007. Users submit links or questions, upvote what they find interesting and comment underneath. The FAQ says the HN team is editorially independent, although YC job ads and startup launches do appear on the front page.
How it works
Per the FAQ, story ranking divides points by a power of the time since submission, then factors in user flags, anti-abuse software, software that demotes overheated discussions and moderator action. Karma does not affect ranking. The guidelines say on-topic content is whatever "good hackers would find interesting", while most politics, crime, sports and celebrity stories are off-topic. Show HN is for sharing your own work.
Pricing and open data
The official pages list no paid plan, so Hacker News can be treated as free. For developers, the HackerNews/API repository on GitHub (MIT-licensed) describes an API built with Firebase that exposes items, public profiles and the topstories, newstories, askstories, showstories and jobstories lists. The documentation states there is currently no rate limit.
More analysis
Compared with alternatives
Hacker News is narrower than general-purpose forums: its topics centre on tech and startups, the interface changes little and it is English-only. People who want topic-by-topic communities may look at Reddit, programming Q&A fits Stack Overflow, and new product launches are tracked on Product Hunt. It works best for readers who like long, technical comment threads and accept a feature-light platform.
Screenshots
Plans & pricing
Prices last verified Nov 10, 2026
Free
PersonalFree
Reading needs no account; posting and commenting require signing up. The official pages list no paid plan. Per Wikipedia, downvoting comments requires 501 karma and flagging comments requires 30.
- Free plan limits
- All features are free. Downvoting and flagging comments unlock at karma thresholds (the official FAQ does not publish the exact numbers).
- Free trial
- No free trial
Cancellation & refunds
Not applicable: Hacker News has no paid plan.
Privacy
Y Combinator's privacy policy (last updated September 2026) says it collects no personal information unless you choose to provide an email address or fill in the "about" field, and that it does not disclose HN information to third parties. Whatever you put in your profile is public. Y Combinator also reserves the right to refuse to delete submissions or comments, even if you delete your account. The policy does not say whether the site-wide analytics tools it lists (such as Google Analytics or PostHog) run on Hacker News.
Hacker News alternatives
7.2/10Product Hunt
A community for launching and upvoting new tech products daily
6.8/10A vast forum of 100,000+ topic communities, from news to niche hobbies
Frequently asked questions
Is Hacker News free?
No official page lists a paid plan. You can read without an account; posting and commenting require signing up.
Does karma make posts rank higher?
No. The official FAQ says karma does not affect ranking, and posts by higher-karma users do not rank higher.
Does Hacker News have an API?
Yes. The official API is built with Firebase and documented on GitHub (HackerNews/API), with no rate limit at present. API bugs go to [email protected].
Can I delete my data?
You can edit or delete some profile information yourself. Account deletion requests go to [email protected]; the FAQ says the team tries not to delete entire account histories because that would gut the threads, and Y Combinator's policy reserves the right to refuse to delete submissions and comments.
Review evidence & sources7
Scores
- Ease of use
- 7.5
- Features
- 6.0
- Value for money
- 8.5
- Performance
- 7.0
- Support
- 5.5
- Privacy & security
- 7.5
Why this score
The front page is a plain list of 30 stories with a handful of navigation links, so it is easy to pick up. Deductions: the search box at the bottom hands off to hn.algolia.com, there is no topic filtering, and the karma rules are fairly opaque.
Why this score
It offers threaded comments, Ask HN, Show HN, jobs, flag/vouch tools and a public API. It is deliberately minimal, though: no private groups, messaging or official app.
Why this score
Entirely free, with no paid tier or feature cap on any official page; the API is free with no rate limit.
Why this score
A text-only page is light by design and the API offers near-real-time data via Firebase. No independent uptime data was found, so the score stays moderate.
Why this score
There is an FAQ, guidelines and contact emails for accounts (hn@) and the API (api@), but no live chat, help centre or response-time commitment.
Why this score
The policy says no personal information is collected unless users provide it, and none is disclosed to third parties. Deductions: Y Combinator may refuse to delete posts and comments, and the policy does not clarify analytics on HN.
Sources
- Vendor-providedHacker News front pageNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedHacker News GuidelinesNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedHacker News FAQNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedY Combinator legal and privacy policyNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedHacker News API repository (GitHub)Nov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedHacker News item 1 (2006)Nov 10, 2026
- Community-reportedWikipedia: Hacker NewsNov 10, 2026
Specs & compatibility
- Developer
- Y Combinator
- Headquarters
- United States
- Launched
- 2007
- Category
- Community
Capabilities
- Public API
Platforms
- Web
- API
Interface languages
- English
Integrations
- Hacker News API (Firebase)
Support
- Help center
Change history
- Company.Tom Howard (tomhow) is announced as a public moderator.
- Company.Paul Graham steps back from his leadership role at Y Combinator and other staff take over running the site.
- Update.TechCrunch reports complaints that the site favours Y Combinator startups; Paul Graham denies it.
Full change history (5)
- Update.The site is renamed Hacker News.
- Launch.Paul Graham launches the site as Startup News, a Y Combinator project.
About the author
Reviews & comments
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