Communities

Lobsters

Invite-only link board with a technical audience.

Visit lobste.rs
Cost
Free

Invite-only. Free once you have an invite.

Verdict
slow burn

Slow burn: a small invite-only audience of engineers.

Difficulty
Hard

Gatekept or reviewed, or needs an existing audience or reviews first.

Effort
Low

About 2 to 4 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

Technical posts with real depth.

Not for

Marketing posts.

Pros

  • Highly technical readers
  • Thoughtful discussion

Cons

  • Invite-only
  • Small audience and little tolerance for marketing

The full guide

Last verified 2026-10-30

Links checked 2026-10-30 · All links answer

01What it is and who is there

Lobsters is a link-sharing community focused on computing, with a highly technical readership. It is invite-only: an existing member must invite you before you can post. Discussion is thoughtful, and members dislike marketing. Its "show" tag is used for things members have made.

02Cost and what you actually pay for

It is free, but you need an invitation. Your cost is earning a place in the community and writing posts with real technical depth.

03Is it right for you?

It fits developer tools, open-source projects and deep technical write-ups. It fits poorly for marketing pages, SaaS landing pages and consumer products. If you do not have a technical story to tell, skip it.

04Before you start

  • Get an invitation from a current member who knows your work. Do not ask strangers for one.
  • Read the site's guidelines on self-promotion, tagging and what is on topic.
  • Prepare a technical write-up or a link to the project's source, not a landing page.

05Step-by-step: how to distribute here

  1. After joining, read and comment for a while before posting your own work.
  2. Post a technical write-up, such as how you built something or a design decision.
  3. Tag it correctly, including "show" if you made it, as the guidelines describe.
  4. Answer questions in detail.
  5. Keep self-posts rare compared with your other activity, as the site's guidance expects.

06What to post or submit

Title:

[What you built or learned], in plain technical terms

First comment:

Author here. I built this to [solve problem]. The interesting part was [technical detail]. Source: [repo]. Happy to answer questions about [topic].

07Common mistakes and do-nots

  • Do not post marketing copy or landing pages.
  • Do not post mostly your own links.
  • Do not ask members for invitations if they do not know you.
  • Do not get defensive about criticism.

08How to measure it

  • Track referrals from lobste.rs.
  • Note the depth of discussion and any contributors who find the project.
  • A realistic test: one technical post.

09Time budget

  • Before: weeks of participation after an invite.
  • Per post: 2 to 4 hours for the write-up, 1 hour to reply.

10Pair it with

11Sources

Sources