Observed arrival · 2026-11-04
Hacker Approved turns Hacker News recommendations into rankings
A searchable guide to books, tools, and services ranked by how many Hacker News commenters recommend, question, or criticize them.
○Open
⊠Login
$Paid
†Ads
✦Pretty
●Pro
◎Niche
◉Human
⚑Risk
ƒJS
- For
- People comparing books, software, and tech gear
- Worth noticing
- Its rankings distinguish recommendations, mixed feelings, and criticism, counting separate commenters in each group.
Field notes
The homepage breaks its catalog into 25 departments, including developer tools, privacy and security, books, and outdoors and travel. Its top paid-product list shows separate counts for recommendations, mixed feelings, and criticism; the page says freemium services can appear there when they sell a paid plan, while free software and AI models have separate rankings.
Observed signals
Read the marks
Editorial observations of this landing page, not a rating.
○OpenPublic substance visible
✦PrettyNotable craft visible
●ProPolished or operationally mature
◎NicheUnusually specific use
One card from the complete issue