Launch boards

Hacker News (Show HN)

Technical readers who reward things they can try at once. Link to something that runs and skip marketing copy.

Visit news.ycombinator.com
Cost
Free

Free to post. No listing fee. Your cost is the time to answer comments.

Verdict
works

Works: a Show HN post can bring a burst of technical users within hours, though most posts get little.

Difficulty
Medium

Needs preparation, a review, or a steady habit before results.

Effort
Medium

About 5 to 10 hours a month.

First result
1 day

A rough range for one person working on it part-time.

Payoff
Spike

a burst of traffic, then it fades.

Best for

Developer tools, open-source projects and anything you can try in a minute.

Not for

Consumer products, or anything that needs a signup before people see value.

Pros

  • Technical readers who try things at once
  • Free, with honest feedback

Cons

  • Most posts get little attention
  • Harsh comments are common
  • Needs a product people can try without signup

The full guide

Last verified 2026-10-30

Links checked 2026-10-30 · All links answer

01What it is and who is there

Hacker News is a link board run by Y Combinator. Readers are mostly software engineers, founders and researchers. A "Show HN" post is a special kind of submission for something you made that other people can try. The Show HN page says it is for "something you've made that other people can play with," and that HN users "can try it out, give you feedback, and ask questions." Posts that are only a blog, a sign-up page or a newsletter do not count.

02Cost and what you actually pay for

Posting is free. There is no listing fee and no paid placement. The cost is your time: answering comments for a few hours after posting, and any hosting for the demo you link to. Check the current guidelines before you post, since HN may change its rules.

03Is it right for you?

It fits developer tools, open-source projects, APIs, command-line tools, and anything a reader can try in a minute or two. It fits poorly for consumer apps, products that need a credit card before use, and anything that is mostly marketing copy. If your product needs a sign-up before any value shows, expect little interest, because HN's own guidance asks for an easy first try.

04Before you start

  • Create an account and use it for a few weeks as a normal reader. Comment on real threads first. New accounts with only promotional posts get little attention and can be flagged.
  • Read the HN guidelines at news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. The main rules: do not solicit upvotes or comments, do not use HN primarily for promotion, do not delete and repost, and do not use uppercase for emphasis.
  • Read the Show HN guidelines at news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html. The project should be "non-trivial". Quickly generated one-off demos are not welcome.
  • Have a working page or install step ready. Ideally there is no signup. If you must have one, say so in the first comment.
  • Prepare a short demo or a single-page explanation of what it does and how to try it in under a minute.

05Step-by-step: how to distribute here

  1. Make sure the thing runs. Check it on a clean browser or machine, not just your own setup.
  2. Write a plain title that starts with "Show HN:" followed by what the thing is. Avoid superlatives and questions.
  3. Submit the link to the working product, not a landing page. If the product needs an account, link a demo that does not.
  4. Stay at the thread for at least the first two hours. Answer questions with specifics: how it works, what it cost to build, what is missing.
  5. Reply to critical comments calmly and do not argue. HN readers respond to honest tradeoffs.
  6. Do not ask anyone to upvote. Do not post the link in other places asking people to come and vote. That breaks the guidelines.
  7. Note the outcome. If the post does not catch, you may post again later, but do not delete and resubmit the same link within days. HN's guidelines discourage that.
  8. Post an update in a new thread only when you have a real change to show, such as a new version or a live metric you can share.

Timing: HN has no fixed "best day" that a source confirms. Check the current front page to see what is active, and avoid times when you cannot respond for hours.

06What to post or submit

Title: Show HN: [Product name] – [what it does in 6 to 10 words]

First comment (post it right after submitting):

Hi HN, I'm [your first name], the maker of [product].

[One sentence: the problem.] I built [product] because [specific reason from your own experience].

How it works: [two or three sentences on the technical approach].

Try it: [link]. [Say whether it needs a signup, and if so, what the free path is.]

Built with: [stack]. Biggest tradeoff so far: [honest limitation]. What I want feedback on: [one specific question].

Replace every bracketed part. Do not write marketing copy.

07Common mistakes and do-nots

  • Do not submit a sign-up page, a blog post or a waitlist as a Show HN. Those are off topic for Show HN.
  • Do not ask friends to upvote, and do not post in group chats asking people to vote. HN's guidelines forbid soliciting upvotes.
  • Do not post AI-generated comments or text in your posts. The guidelines ask people not to put generated text in HN posts.
  • Do not argue with commenters or call them wrong in a dismissive way. Answer the question they asked.
  • Do not repost the same link repeatedly. Repeated reposting can get it flagged.
  • Do not use multiple accounts or create sockpuppets to answer comments.

08How to measure it

  • Track the number of visits to your site from HN in your analytics, filtered by referrer news.ycombinator.com. Set this up before you post.
  • Track sign-ups or installs in the same window, labelled by source if your tool supports it.
  • Count the substantive comments, not only points. Good questions often predict real users.
  • A realistic test: one Show HN is a single shot. Judge it by whether it produced a few real users and useful feedback, not by the points. Repeat only after you change the product in a way that a reader would notice.

09Time budget

  • Before: 4 to 8 hours to make the product runnable, check it on a clean machine, write the first comment and a short demo.
  • During: 2 to 3 hours on the day, answering comments as they come in.
  • After: 1 to 2 hours in the following day to follow up on questions and log what you learned.

10Pair it with

Note: the links above use channel ids. Each one opens that channel's entry in the directory.

11Sources

Sources