Product Hunt vs Hacker News: Where to Launch?
last updated: Jan 26, 2026
You built the product; now you need the users. Choosing the wrong launchpad ensures your traffic is either non-existent or completely unqualified, regardless of how good your code is.
TL;DR
Product Hunt vs Hacker News comes down to audience alignment: Product Hunt is a showroom for enthusiasts and marketers, while Hacker News is a cynical technical forum for engineers.
- Rule: Never use "marketing speak" on Hacker News. You will be flagged and buried.
- Warning: Product Hunt traffic often has high churn; they are "tourists" trying new tools.
- Tip: Don't launch blind. Use a proven Product Hunt launch strategy to maximize your odds.
Glossary
- Product Hunt (PH): The "QVC for Startups." A platform driven by visuals, gamified upvotes, and a supportive community of early adopters and other founders.
- Hacker News (HN): The "Supreme Court of Tech." Y Combinator's aggregator where the audience values technical novelty, speed, and utility over polish or marketing copy.
- Churn (User Drop-off): The percentage of visitors who leave without performing a desired action or users who stop using the product shortly after signing up.
Benchmarks
Do not guess your numbers. Use these baselines to set expectations.
- Product Hunt: Expect 1,500–2,500 visitors from a Top 3 finish. Traffic decays quickly after 48 hours [Source: Softr 2025].
- Hacker News: A front-page spot can drive 10,000–30,000+ visitors in hours. Traffic is volatile but high-volume [Source: YC Library].
Sample math
Let's assume you launch a developer tool. Here is how the math plays out:
Let's assume you launch a developer tool. Here is how the math plays out:
- On Product Hunt: You get 800–1,000 visitors. The audience is mostly marketers who don't code. With a conversion rate of 0.5–1.0%, you acquire roughly 4–10 users.
- On Hacker News: You hit the front page for 3 hours and get 6,000–8,000 visitors. The audience is an estimated 80–90% developers. With a conservative 1.5–2.5% conversion, you gain 90–200 qualified users who actually understand the product.
Product Hunt vs Hacker News
The core difference lies in intent. Product Hunt users are there to discover "cool" things; Hacker News users are there to critique technical merit. If you are building B2B SaaS (Software as a Service), Product Hunt is likely your home. If you are building DevTools, APIs, or Open Source projects, Hacker News is your arena.
Trying to force a consumer app onto Hacker News often results in zero traction, while bringing a complex API to Product Hunt without Product Hunt featured templates for visuals usually fails to capture attention.
Trying to force a consumer app onto Hacker News often results in zero traction, while bringing a complex API to Product Hunt without Product Hunt featured templates for visuals usually fails to capture attention.
The asset (copy this)
Use the table below to decide where your specific product fits.
Risks
Launching is not without danger. Be aware of these platform-specific pitfalls:
- The "Tourist" Problem (PH): Product Hunt users love to sign up, look around, and leave. Retention rates for PH cohorts are often 20–30% lower than organic traffic.
- The "Flag" Problem (HN): Hacker News has a sophisticated anti-spam algorithm. If you ask friends to upvote your post, or if your title sounds like an ad, you will be flagged and removed from the front page immediately.
Will a "perfect launch" actually get you to $10k MRR?
Mastering the Product Hunt vs Hacker News decision is a necessary step to get your first 100 users, but it is not the whole picture. A successful launch provides a temporary spike in traffic, not a business model.
You can have perfect execution on launch day: getting #1 Product of the Day or hitting the top of HN. However, if your other variables (Offer, Pricing Power, Market Timing) are weak, your probability of hitting $10k MRR remains near 0%. Launch platforms are amplifiers; if you amplify a product nobody wants to pay for, you just fail faster.
You can have perfect execution on launch day: getting #1 Product of the Day or hitting the top of HN. However, if your other variables (Offer, Pricing Power, Market Timing) are weak, your probability of hitting $10k MRR remains near 0%. Launch platforms are amplifiers; if you amplify a product nobody wants to pay for, you just fail faster.
FAQ
- You:Can I launch on both platforms simultaneously?Guide:Yes, but you must segment your messaging. Send your visual landing page to Product Hunt. Send a technical blog post or your GitHub repository to Hacker News. Do not send the same link to both.
- You:Which platform is better for SEO?Guide:Product Hunt pages rank very well on Google and provide a do-follow link (usually). Hacker News links are often valid for traffic but less impactful for direct SEO authority due to time-based aging.
- You:How do I prepare my assets?Guide:Focus on high-contrast visuals for PH and technical documentation for HN. If you are struggling with visuals, use proven templates to speed up the process.
No-BS guides
📉 Avg founder's probability: 12%
What if your startup is doomed to fail? ò_ô
You spent 5 minutes reading about tactics. Don't leave without checking if your current strategy can get you to $10K MRR in the next 90 days.