Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to I made a browser extension for building your own custom HN themes
Hi HN! I’ve spent the last few weeks writing a browser extension that lets users write their own HN themes using Handlebars and CSS. It works by converting the current Hacker News page’s content into an object that is made available to the user-defined Handlebars templates. There is a built-in code editor that makes writing themes super easy and you can see changes in real-time. If you don’t want to write a theme from scratch, there are premade themes available or you may import one made by somebody else. It is shipped with Bootstrap so you can get pretty far without needing to write a lot…
This browser extension lets users create custom Hacker News themes using Handlebars templates and CSS. It converts the HN page into an object available to user-defined templates, with a built-in code editor showing… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. I made a browser extension for building your own custom HN themes launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
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✨ Hacker News, but refined — Interface tweaks and features to make the HN experience better - plibither8/refined-hacker-news
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 2

Hey HN, I made this free browser extension that modernizes the Hacker News design. I previously launched Modern for Wikipedia [1] here back in December, and it seemed like the obvious next choice to build one for HN too! So I've taken what I learned from building that, and have spent all my spare time this year building Modern for HN. I realize this won't be for everyone, but it was a fun project to work on, and I'm really happy with the result so far. Hope you like it too! Lots more planned for future updates, and suggestions welcome :) [1]…
2022 · modernhn.com · its alternatives →
- 3HN
Hello everyone! This is a browser extension that attempts to enhance Hacker News user experience, while your data is kept secure, and private (never leaves the browser). Browsers have evolved significantly since doing a v1 back in 2010, which was one of the contributing factors, for attempting a complete re-take few months ago. Personally, I was surprised how useful it turned out to be when browsing around HN. On the linked page you can find install link(s) from web-browser stores, and demo video/screenshots of the features[1] What do you think ? [1] including, browsing content with…
2023 · carina.app · its alternatives →
- 4HS
2013 · gabrielecirulli.github.io · its alternatives →
- 5

HN is great for the links people share, but a big part of the value I get comes from reading the discussion around them. I realized I was always opening the article in one tab and the comments in another, constantly switching back and forth. I figured there was probably a simpler way, so I threw together this userscript to merge the two. 1. Clicking a link from Hacker News opens the article with a side panel containing the discussion. It doesn't require your credentials, is resizable, and is easy to tweak if you want to customize it. 2. If you land on an article that has previously been…
Jul 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Hey HN! Just for fun, I built an interactive Hacker News Simulator. You can submit text posts and links, just like the real HN. But on HN Simulator, all of the comments are generated by LLMs + generate instantly. The best way to use it (IMHO) is to submit a text post or a curl-able URL here: https://news.ysimulator.run/submit. You don't need an account to post. When you do that, various prompts will be built from a library of commenter archetypes, moods, and shapes. The AI commenters will actually respond to your text post and/or submitted link. I really wanted it to feel…
Nov 2025 · news.ysimulator.run · its alternatives →
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Hi Hacker News, I developed an open source browser extension for summarizing Hacker News articles with OpenAI and Anthropic LLMs. It currently supports Chrome [1] and Firefox [2] (desktop). The extension adds the summarize buttons to the HN front page and article pages. It is bring-your-own-key, i.e. there's no back end behind it and the usage is free, you insert your API key and pay only for tokens to your LLM provider. [1] https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hacker-news-tldr/oo... [2]…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 8

A beautiful, clean, modern web UI for Hacker News
2022 · modernhn.com · its alternatives →
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Favicons for HN▲310Favicons for HN. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
2022 · gist.github.com · its alternatives →
- 10

2013 · chrome.google.com · its alternatives →
- 11

2018 · chrome.google.com · its alternatives →
- 12

A chrome extension that applies a stylesheet to Hacker News' frontpage. - guicoelho/hn-beautify
2014 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 13

Browser extension that toggles an opinionated dark theme for the popular website, Hacker News. - azerella/ext-hn-darkmode
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 14HN
2020 · jgthms.com · its alternatives →
- 15BH
I've developed a Hacker News reader that draws inspiration from Brutalist Web Design, the open web, Cyberpunk Aesthetics, and glitch art. The entire project is crafted in Vanilla JavaScript, contained within a single index.html file, eschewing any external libraries. It features support for theming, including the use of third-party themes. Additionally, users have the capability to create and apply their own themes directly within the site. Moreover, the application is designed as a Progressive Web App (PWA), enabling it to be downloaded and used as an app on most devices. I'm eager to…
2024 · brutalisthackernews.com · its alternatives →
- 16

2019 · chrome.google.com · its alternatives →
- 17

I have a dedicated HN tab that I come back to and reload multiple times a day to see whats new and hot. I wrote a Chrome Extension to: - quickly scan new articles since my last reload - quickly scan highly discussed articles - open actual articles and discussions in a new tab This links to the source code. The chrome extension is linked at the bottom of the github page. Note: - This extension only operates on the HN front page (https://news.ycombinator.com/news) - The first time you reload the HN front page after installing the extension all articles will get highlighted.
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 18

It's been 2 years since the initial release [here](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36102610). The initial version was a very basic prototype which was not available anywhere beyond the GitHub repo. You had to install it as a userscript or load the extension manually. Since then, it remained simple but better, new features include: - Improved accuracy by also using comments to help gauge the topic of discussion and the right keywords. - Published as plugin for more browsers: Chrome, Firefox (including android), and more recently Microsoft Edge. - Support for narrow screens…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 19

I've been working on and off on a Chrome Extension for Hacker News, the extension focusses on improved usability rather than design. I can almost guarantee that after a day you won't want to go back to regular Hacker News. Give it a try, features include: - Improved readability - Quick inline replies from comments page - Quick profiles with social network info when hovering over usernames - Filtering of stories based on terms and phrases / domain or user - Endless scrolling - Collapsible comment threads - Social sharing for Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Buffer Forks, improvements and comments…
2012 · chrome.google.com · its alternatives →
- 20HN
The HN frontpage can feature stories that aren't that relevant to me, and some good ones don't get enough traction on the new submissions page. So I thought of building something that personalizes the stories you see. This is done by getting the 500 newest and top stories and comparing them against your likes, building your own personalized homepage. Also, when I find something I like, I usually want to explore similar stuff. So I created embeddings for 500k historical stories (all above 20 points) and added a 'similar' button that shows you the closest stories. I thought of making this a…
2024 · hackernewsexplorer.com · its alternatives →
- 21

Privacy-preserving Firefox extension linking to Hacker News discussion; built with Bloom filters and WebAssembly - jstrieb/hackernews-button
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 22

Highlight and tag your friends on Hacker News. Contribute to veggiedefender/hn-friends development by creating an account on GitHub.
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 23

Generate startup ideas on a particular topic, based on insights from Hacker News comments.
2023 · hn-ideas.tjcx.me · its alternatives →
- 24IM
I noticed the who's hiring threads are very popular every month, so I decided to create a job board specifically for hacker news. You can tag jobs, search, view user's profiles and more. Tell me what you guys thing! Any feedback is appreciated.
2013 · hnjobs.org · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →