About Show HN
Overview
Show HN is the dedicated showcase section of Hacker News where community members present projects they have built. It functions as a peer-review launchpad for software makers who want real technical feedback.
Each submission is a self-posted project from indie developers, open-source contributors, and startup founders. The community votes, comments, and provides direct critique on everything from AI agent tooling to FPS aim trainers.
Key Benefits
- Projects receive upvotes and real developer commentary within hours of posting.
- Popular Show HN threads can reach hundreds of points and dozens of comments, driving substantial traffic.
- The section surfaces a new set of submissions daily, giving each project a clear window of visibility.
- Submissions link directly to GitHub repos, live demos, and product pages so viewers can evaluate immediately.
- No algorithmic curation — ranking is purely by community votes and recency.
- Rules and tips are provided to help submitters craft effective, well-received posts.
How It Works
You read the submission guidelines, then post a link to your project with a title starting with "Show HN:". The community sees your listing on the main feed and can vote it up or leave comments. Your project rises or falls based entirely on peer engagement.
Use Cases
- Solo developers and indie hackers launching a side project who want real user feedback before a wider release.
- Open-source maintainers announcing a new repository who need early adopters and contributors.
- Startup founders testing a minimum viable product with a technically sophisticated audience.
- Designers and engineers showcasing creative tools like diagram editors, speed readers, or 3D visualizations.
- Researchers and academics demoing experiments in AI, language models, and data visualization.
- Anyone building developer tooling — CI/CD utilities, testing frameworks, or browser automation SDKs — who needs power-user first impressions.
