Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Product Hunt VS Hacker News

Compare Product Hunt VS Hacker News and see what are their differences

Product Hunt logo Product Hunt

A website that lets users share and discover new products

Hacker News logo Hacker News

Hacker News is a social news website focusing on computer science and entrepreneurship. It is run by Paul Graham's investment fund and startup incubator, Y Combinator.
  • Product Hunt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-07
  • Hacker News Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-23

Product Hunt features and specs

  • Community Engagement
    Product Hunt has a large and active community of tech enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and early adopters. This can provide valuable feedback and support for new product launches.
  • Visibility
    Launching on Product Hunt can significantly increase the visibility of a product. Products that perform well can reach a wide audience quickly.
  • Networking Opportunities
    Product Hunt offers opportunities to connect with other entrepreneurs, developers, and investors. This can lead to potential collaborations and partnerships.
  • Validation
    Being featured on Product Hunt can serve as a form of validation for your product. A positive reception can attract more users and investors.
  • Feedback
    Launchers can receive immediate and honest feedback from a knowledgeable community, helping to improve the product iteratively.

Possible disadvantages of Product Hunt

  • High Competition
    Product Hunt is very competitive, and many products are launched daily. Standing out can be challenging.
  • Temporary Traffic Spike
    The visibility boost from being featured on Product Hunt can be temporary. Sustaining momentum and converting initial interest into long-term users is crucial.
  • Moderation and Rules
    Product Hunt has specific rules and guidelines for submissions. Failure to adhere to these can result in a product being removed or not featured.
  • Critical Feedback
    While feedback is generally useful, it can also be harsh. New entrepreneurs might find the criticism overwhelming.
  • Time Zone Dependency
    The success of a launch can be influenced by the timing. Products launched at off-peak hours may receive less attention.

Hacker News features and specs

  • Quality Content
    Hacker News focuses on high-quality, tech-centric content which is often insightful and valuable for those in the tech industry.
  • Community
    The community consists largely of professionals and enthusiasts in tech, providing a knowledgeable and skilled user base for discussions.
  • Upvote System
    The upvote system helps in promoting the most relevant and useful posts, ensuring users see content that is often vetted by the community.
  • Minimalist Design
    The simple, text-based design minimizes distractions and focuses on content and discussions without unnecessary clutter.
  • Diverse Topics
    While mainly focused on technology, Hacker News also covers a variety of subjects including entrepreneurship, science, and more.

Possible disadvantages of Hacker News

  • Echo Chamber Effect
    Given its focused and like-minded community, there is a risk of homogeneous opinions and lack of diverse viewpoints.
  • Moderation Issues
    The manual moderation can sometimes be inconsistent, leading to frustrations around which posts or comments get removed or promoted.
  • Signal-to-Noise Ratio
    Despite the upvote system, some low-quality or irrelevant content can still surface, diluting the overall information quality.
  • Niche Audience
    Its strong focus on tech topics can alienate those who are not as tech-savvy or interested, limiting broader appeal.
  • Limited Features
    The platform offers very basic functionality compared to other modern forums, which might deter users who prefer more advanced features.

Analysis of Product Hunt

Overall verdict

  • Product Hunt is considered a valuable resource for discovering fresh and trending tech innovations. It offers a community-driven approach to product discovery, which can be particularly beneficial for startup founders and tech enthusiasts. Its value largely depends on individual preferences, but it is generally well-regarded among those interested in the tech industry.

Why this product is good

  • Product Hunt is a platform celebrated for its daily curation of innovative tech products, software, and services. It serves as a launchpad for entrepreneurs to introduce their new products to a community of tech enthusiasts and early adopters. Users can upvote and discuss new listings, making it a vibrant hub for interaction and feedback.

Recommended for

  • Tech enthusiasts who enjoy discovering new products.
  • Entrepreneurs seeking to launch their products.
  • Investors looking for new startups to explore.
  • Developers interested in the latest software tools.
  • Marketers aiming to keep up-to-date with industry trends.

Analysis of Hacker News

Overall verdict

  • Good

Why this product is good

  • Hacker News is a popular platform for tech enthusiasts and professionals to discuss and share information on a wide variety of topics, mainly related to technology, startups, and computer science. It's known for its intelligent community and high-quality discussions, which can provide valuable insights and knowledge.

Recommended for

  • Tech enthusiasts
  • Startup founders
  • Developers
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Investors
  • Anyone interested in technology and innovation

Product Hunt videos

Best Website to Find New Products -- Product Hunt | Tu Review

More videos:

  • Review - Product Hunt Review: Fooodie
  • Review - Product Hunt 4.0 Mobile App Review

Hacker News videos

No Hacker News videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Product Hunt and Hacker News)
Software Marketplace
100 100%
0% 0
Social Networks
0 0%
100% 100
Software Recommendations
100 100%
0% 0
Social News
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Product Hunt and Hacker News. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Product Hunt and Hacker News

Product Hunt Reviews

  1. dolcemediterranea
    Great place to discover new products

    Joined recently, it's really a great community, very supportive and you can find tons of useful new products.

    👍 Pros:    Lots of useful new stuff to discover every day|Very supportive community if you go there to launch your product

Software Launch Platforms: Leading Product Hunt Alternatives
Product Hunt has long been a popular platform for discovering and launching innovative software products. However, as technology continues to evolve, staying informed about the best Product Hunt alternatives suitable for launching a new software product is essential. This article will cover some noteworthy alternatives to consider when preparing to release your cutting-edge...
Make sure to list your SaaS on these marketplaces to get users
Product hunt is one of the most popular places to list your SaaS, it has a wait period of 7 days and you need to maintain your streak every day by participating in it, like commenting on the apps or providing an upvote to them.
Source: medium.com
Exploring SaaS Directories: The Path to Optimal Software Selection
Product Hunt features new and innovative SaaS products, offering a platform for discovery, discussion, and feedback from the community of tech enthusiasts and professionals, facilitating the discovery of cutting-edge solutions. producthunt.com
Source: cloudtweaks.com
Top 20+ AI Tools Directories
Product Hunt, as the name implies for itself, is a place where you can find digital products or tools to be more precise. As you might’ve figured it out by now, Product Hunt also boasts a rich library full of impressive AI tools as well, and it just might be what you’re looking for. You can find various AI tools with their reviews right below them, and Product Hunt’s...
7 Product Hunt Alternative Sites To Submit Or Find Latest Tech
Product Hunt is a great website to find about new technologies and apps in the software industry. Also, it is extensively used as a promotion platform by developers to boost their new apps, tools or startups. But only one platform cannot be enough in such a tough competition. So there’s no harm in trying other services as well. A wise man once said, “Never leave all your...

Hacker News Reviews

Best Forums for Developers to Join in 2025
Hacker News is a great place to learn how to code. You'll find many interesting articles about new projects in the open-source community. You can also see what's happening with your favorite programming language or framework daily.
Source: www.notchup.com
Make sure to list your SaaS on these marketplaces to get users
I would highly recommend if you have a SaaS, try to list it here as news this will surely get a good amount of traffic to your SaaS. Hacker News is simple and is maintained by Ycombinator which is a gold mine for startups to get started.
Source: medium.com
15 Best Reddit Alternatives in 2024: Find Your New Online Community
Hacker News, run by Y Combinator, is a popular platform for technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs.
Great Products for Finding Startup Jobs
Hacker News—Not a job board, per se, but the HN Who’s Hiring post at the start of every month has dozens of engineering-focused job posts. HN also regularly pushes select YC jobs to the front page.
Source: medium.com
18 Best Sites for Finding a Startup Job
Hacker News has a job board that lists jobs exclusively at various startups. Obviously, as Hackers News is associated with Y Combinator, most of the listed startup jobs are at companies that have gone through the accelerator’s program.
Source: tech.co

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Hacker News seems to be a lot more popular than Product Hunt. While we know about 659 links to Hacker News, we've tracked only 57 mentions of Product Hunt. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Product Hunt mentions (57)

View more

Hacker News mentions (659)

  • Compiler Explorer and the Promise of URLs That Last Forever
    It doesn't matter. URI is basically a format and nothing else. (foo://bar123 would be a URI but not a URL because nothing defines what foo: is.) URLs and URNs are thingies using the URI format; https://news.ycombinator.com is a URL (in addition to being a URI) because there's an RFC that specifies that https: means and how to go out and fetch them. urn:isbn:0451450523... - Source: Hacker News / 4 days ago
  • Unveiling the X Consortium License: Bridging Open Source Fairness and Legal Innovation
    Key historical moments include debates on Hacker News and discussions on Stack Overflow where early adopters highlighted the need for licenses that safeguard intellectual property while encouraging communal improvement. The creators of the X Consortium License combined deep legal expertise with technical experience to create a model that champions fairness, a response supported by communities like the Free... - Source: dev.to / 13 days ago
  • Unveiling the WxWindows Library Licence: A Comprehensive Analysis of Open Source Fair Code Licensing
    This post provides a detailed exploration of the WxWindows Library Licence—a unique open source and fair code licensing model focused on protecting developers and balancing innovation with commercial use. We delve into its history, core concepts (including dual licensing and fair code mechanisms), practical applications, challenges, and future prospects. By integrating insights from industry-standard resources... - Source: dev.to / 13 days ago
  • Unveiling SGI Free Software License B 2.0: A Comprehensive Exploration for Open Source and Fair Code Communities
    Community-Driven Initiatives: A number of open source projects, much like those discussed on platforms such as Hacker News and Stack Overflow, have reported improved developer retention and satisfaction thanks to the clear compensation and anti-exploitation measures. - Source: dev.to / 13 days ago
  • Unveiling OpenMAMA License: A Comprehensive Exploration of Fair Code and Sustainable Open Source Ecosystems
    The OpenMAMA License was conceived at a time when the open source community demanded transparency and protection against corporate exploitation. Traditional licenses, while effective in many ways, often left developers with little control over commercial derivatives. Developers, driven by a need for equitable recognition and reward, began exploring ways to integrate fair compensation into licensing models.... - Source: dev.to / 13 days ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Product Hunt and Hacker News, you can also consider the following products

AlternativeTo - AlternativeTo lets you find apps and software for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, Android Tablets, Web Apps, Online, Windows Tablets and more by recommending alternatives to apps you already know.

License-Token.com - Monetize your source code while still keeping it open.

SaaSHub - Find and promote software that will help you grow your business or to be more productive.

Reddit - Reddit gives you the best of the internet in one place. Get a constantly updating feed of breaking news, fun stories, pics, memes, and videos just for you.

Alternative.me - Welcome to alternative.me, the source of better software alternatives. Finding suitable software was never easier.

Lobsters - Lobsters is a technology-focused link-aggregation site.