Hacker News alternative
Hacker News show HN, and the harshest audience you will find. Here is how RankCert differs, and where Hacker News is still the better choice.
Short answer
A Show HN that reaches the front page sends more qualified traffic than almost anything else, and it is entirely out of your control. RankCert is the opposite trade: no spike, but a page whose ranking is based on signals we check and re-check every week.
Hacker News vs RankCert
| Capability | Hacker News | RankCert |
|---|---|---|
| What decides your rank | Upvotes with time decay and heavy moderation | Verified control of the product's own domain |
| Cost to list | Free | Free, including verification |
| What gets checked | Community moderation, no editorial gate | Every published signal, re-checked weekly |
| Audience | Engineers, founders, the technically sceptical | Founders and buyers looking for products that can prove their numbers |
| Cadence | Continuous | Weekly board, permanent product page |
| Domain rating | 649 | Measured 2026-08-29, third-party backlink rank, 0–1000 |
Why people look for a Hacker News alternative
- Completely unpredictable. The same post can reach the front page or vanish depending on timing and who happens to be online.
- Ruthless audience. Technically excellent products get dismantled in the comments, which is valuable and brutal in equal measure.
- Self-promotion rules are strict and enforced. Repeated posting gets accounts penalised.
- No persistent surface. A Show HN thread is not a page that ranks - it is an event.
What Hacker News still does better
Signal quality. The feedback in a Show HN thread is the most technically rigorous you will get anywhere for free, and the traffic converts better than any aggregator. If your product is for developers, one good Show HN is worth ten directory listings.
What RankCert does differently
Position on the board is a function of what you can prove, in four levels. Votes only break ties between products at the same level.
- Unverified - Nothing checked yet
- Verified - RankCert certificate live on the product's own domain
Who should stay on Hacker News
Post to Show HN if you have built something technically interesting and can take direct criticism. It costs nothing and the downside is being ignored.
Other alternatives worth knowing
Frequently asked questions
When should I post a Show HN?
Weekday mornings US Eastern have historically had the most traffic and the most competition. There is no reliable optimum - the variance between identical posts is larger than any timing effect.
Can I ask people to upvote?
No. Vote rings are detected and penalised, and the penalty applies to the account, not just the post.
Does a Show HN help SEO?
The link itself is nofollowed. The value is in the secondary coverage - blog posts and newsletters that pick up a front-page Show HN and link to you properly.
What if it gets no traction?
That is the common outcome and it costs you nothing. Reposting the same product later is tolerated if the product has meaningfully changed.
Ready to switch from Hacker News?
Listing is free and the link stays dofollow whether or not you display the badge. Verify a signal and your position moves - no launch-day scramble required.
Submit a product - free