Show HN: How to Post Your Product on Hacker News
Show HN is the part of Hacker News where people share something they made that others can try. To post one, submit your product with a title that starts with “Show HN:” and link to something people can use right away, ideally without signing up. Add a first comment explaining what it is, why you built it and how. Then stay and answer every comment. Don’t ask friends to upvote; the guidelines ask you not to.
Why do so many Show HN posts get no response?
You post on a weekday morning, refresh for an hour, and the post sits at one point on the new page. A few views, no comments. It looked like a free shot at a technical audience, and it went nowhere.
The usual cause is the format. A landing page instead of something to try. A title that reads like an ad. No comment from the maker, or a signup wall between the reader and the thing. Each of those makes a busy reader move on, and on Hacker News you don’t get much of their time to begin with.
What do the Show HN rules say?
The Show HN guidelines are short. In summary:
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| It’s for things people can try | Software, hardware, a working tool. Blog posts, newsletters, lists and sign-up pages go in a regular submission |
| You made it | You built it and you’re around to discuss it |
| It’s ready to try | It doesn’t need to be finished, but landing pages and fundraisers don’t count |
| Easy to try | Ideally no signup or email required |
| Big changes only | A minor update to something already shown generally doesn’t qualify; a major overhaul probably does |
| No vote rings | Don’t ask friends to upvote or comment |
A post first appears on the “show new” list and moves to the Show HN page after it gets enough points.
How do you write a Show HN title?
Plain and specific beats clever. The pattern most makers use:
Show HN: [Name], [what it does in a few words]
- Say what it is, not how great it is, because readers on HN skip superlatives.
- Name the technical angle if there is one: open source, runs locally, a new approach.
- Keep it short so it fits on one line of the list.
If you’re stuck on the “what it does” part, how to write a tagline for your product helps you get it to one line.
What should the first comment say?
Post a comment on your own submission right away, because it’s where readers decide whether to click. Cover:
- What it is, in two sentences.
- Why you built it: the problem you had.
- How it works: the stack, the hard part, what you tried that didn’t work.
- What’s rough: known limits. Honesty here earns patience.
- What feedback you want: a specific question gets better answers than “thoughts?”
Write like you’re explaining it to a colleague, not like a launch announcement. How to write a launch post people actually read covers the same idea for other platforms.
What do you do after you post?
- Stay for the first few hours. Answer every comment, including the harsh ones, because the discussion is what keeps people on the post. Thank people for bug reports and fix the easy ones while they watch.
- Don’t argue. Disagree with facts and calmly. The guidelines ask commenters to be kind; you’ll be judged on how you answer too.
- Write down every question. Repeated questions are missing lines on your landing page.
- Don’t repost the same thing. If it didn’t catch, ship something substantial and show that later.
Should Show HN be your only launch?
No. Show HN suits developer tools, open source and technical products, and it’s one day of attention at most. Space it out with other launches. Product Hunt alternatives for makers without an audience lists the other formats and who they fit.
LaunchGP is one of them, and we run it, so take this as our pitch. It’s a weekly launch race: a Grand Prix runs Monday to Monday with 32 cars, votes over the whole week set the order, and money never buys points. 20 seats per round are free with the LaunchGP badge on your site, and front slots run from $59 for pole down to $9 for P6. A Show HN one week and a Grand Prix the next gives you two different audiences, a few days apart.
What’s the next step?
Make your product tryable without a signup, write the title and first comment tonight, and post when you can stay for a few hours. Then line up the next launch.
A seat is free with the badge, and a front slot starts at $9.
Get your seat in the next Grand Prix
FAQ
What is Show HN?
A section of Hacker News for things people have made that others can try. Posts start with “Show HN:” in the title.
Can I post a landing page on Show HN?
No. The guidelines say landing pages, sign-up pages and fundraisers don’t count. Post when there’s something to try.
Can I post on Show HN more than once?
For a major new version, probably yes. Minor updates to something you already showed generally don’t qualify.
Can I ask friends to upvote my Show HN?
No. The guidelines ask you not to have friends upvote or comment. Votes that come from people who never tried the product tell you nothing anyway.
Is Show HN good for non-technical products?
It can work, but the audience is mostly technical. It fits a product for developers, or one with an interesting technical story, much better than a consumer app.