Hacker News is a broad, high-traffic tech forum. Lobsters (lobste.rs) is invite-oriented with tagging and a smaller audience - strong 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.
Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | Hacker News | Lobsters |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | Very high front-page potential | Niche, tag-filtered |
| Access | Open posting with karma norms | Invite + moderation |
| Feedback | Often blunt, fast | Often detailed in specific tags |
| Launch fit | Show HN spikes | Rarely launch-first |
| Research fit | Category language at scale | Deep technical debates |
Read HN Guidelines and Lobsters About/wiki for current norms.
Flagging and moderation culture
HN: Flagging affects visibility; mods enforce guidelines publicly in threads. Expect direct criticism of technical claims.
Lobsters: Invite model + tags shape who sees what. Off-topic or low-effort posts get moderated differently - read before posting.
Research implication: Lurking 1–2 weeks on both before commenting reduces ban risk.
Cross-posting etiquette
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Disclose cross-post if asked | Same promo link same hour |
| Adapt title to community | Copy-paste marketing speak |
| Engage in comments hours | Hit-and-run link drop |
See HN playbook for Show HN vs comment-first discovery.
When to prioritize which
| Your ICP | Start here |
|---|---|
| DevTools / infra | HN + Lobsters tags (systems, devops) |
| Prosumer SaaS | HN + Reddit |
| Security niche | Lobsters security tags + specialist subs |
Search both in one workflow via multi-platform search - Lobsters is included on eligible Search plans.
Research workflow
- Search category on HN (Algolia) and Lobsters (site search).
- Log 10 phrases from each.
- Compare overlap - shared phrases = strong positioning candidates.
- Reply on one thread per week max while learning norms.