Directory review
Hacker News (Show HN) review
Where technical products get brutally honest feedback.
At a glance
DirPilot Score from 2 of 5 factors. The rest aren't checked yet, so it may move.
- Domain rating
- 91
- Visits / month
- Not checked Check pending
- Price
- Free
- Link type
- unchecked Check pending
- Approval
- Not checked Check pending
- Listings indexed
- Not checked Check pending
Our verdict
Hacker News (Show HN) is one of the strongest domains you can get a listing on (DR 91). We haven't confirmed whether its listing links are dofollow yet. Listing is free.
Best for Makers of a working product that people can try right away (software, or hardware shown in a video or detailed post) who want direct technical feedback.
About Hacker News (Show HN)
Hacker News is a link and discussion site for "anything that good hackers would find interesting", with a Show HN section for sharing something you made. Its rules say Show HN is "for something you've made that other people can play with", so HN users can try it, give feedback and ask questions in the thread.
What a listing gets you
- A post whose title links to your URL, with optional text shown at the top of the thread
- A comment thread where HN users give feedback and ask questions
- Every Show HN appears on the new Show HN page, and moves to the main Show page once it clears a small points threshold
Pricing, timing and links
- Pricing
- None of HN's pages mention a fee. Posting only needs an HN account.
- Links
- On the Show HN page we checked, title links on low-scoring posts carried nofollow, while most higher-scoring posts' links did not. HN does not document this.
Before you submit
- An HN account (the submit page asks you to log in or create one)
- The title must begin with "Show HN"
- It must be something you made yourself that people can try, and you must be around to discuss it
- Off topic for Show HN: blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters, lists, other reading material, landing pages and fundraisers
- The project should be non-trivial: "Don't post quickly-generated one-offs"
- New features and minor upgrades generally don't qualify, but a major overhaul probably does
- Don't ask friends to upvote or comment, and don't delete and repost
- Submissions openYES
How to get approved
- Follow the moderators' tips: write the post text by hand with no AI editing, explain the backstory and what is different, say clearly what it does, and drop marketing language.
- Make it easy to try without signups or confirmation emails; the Show HN rules say you will get more feedback that way.
- Use a personal username rather than your company or project name, and keep friends and users from posting booster comments.
- Only relaunch for a significantly different version (moderators suggest once or twice a year at most), and link the previous Show HN in a comment.
Similar directories
| Directory | Score | DR | Visits/mo | Price | Link | Approval | Indexed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reddit r/SaaSRERS | 96 | 95 | — | Free | unchecked | — | — |
| DEV CommunityDECO | 91 | 91 | — | — | unchecked | — | — |
| LobstersLOBS | 75 | 75 | — | — | unchecked | — | — |
| Side ProjectorsSIPR | 71 | 71 | — | — | unchecked | — | — |
| Indie PageINPA | 67 | 67 | — | — | unchecked | — | — |
Questions
Is Hacker News (Show HN) free?
Yes, submitting to Hacker News (Show HN) is free.
How do I submit to Hacker News (Show HN)?
Submissions go through https://news.ycombinator.com/submit. Have this ready: An HN account (the submit page asks you to log in or create one); The title must begin with "Show HN"; It must be something you made yourself that people can try, and you must be around to discuss it. Or let DirPilot submit for you, along with every other directory that fits your product.