Quick answer
Hacker News is a broad, high-traffic tech forum with public moderation patterns documented in guidelines. Lobsters is an invite-oriented community with tagging and smaller audience - great for deep threads in some niches, weaker for mass-market launches. For research, lurk, cite, and never treat either as a lead database.
Best for: technical founders validating dev-facing ideas.
Practical differences (non-exhaustive)
| Dimension | Hacker News | Lobsters |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | Very high | More niche |
| Feedback style | Often blunt | Often detailed in specific tags |
| Access | Open posting with karma rules | Invite-based |
Visit Lobsters About pages for their current norms.
Research etiquette
- Disclose affiliation when discussing your product.
- Prefer questions over pitches.
- Accept public criticism as data.
Needle notes
Lobsters is included in Search platform lists for eligible tiers per plans.js; confirm merges on Pricing.