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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Zen Hacker News

Make Hacker News Readable

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Zen Hacker News launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1HF

    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 →

  2. 2

    A beautiful, clean, modern web UI for Hacker News

    2022 · its alternatives →

  3. 3

    Focus on the really fresh and unread news in Hacker News.

    2017 · its alternatives →

  4. 4IM

    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 →

  5. 5UH
  6. 6HN

    2018 · jsomers.net · its alternatives →

  7. 7HN

    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 →

  8. 8LB
  9. 9

    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 →

  10. 10

    Hacker News now has an API. Awesome. :)

    2014 · its alternatives →

  11. 11IM
  12. 12

    Highlight new comments, mute users & tweak UI on Hacker News

    2023 · its alternatives →

  13. 13AC
  14. 14

    A smarter version of Hacker News

    2017 · its alternatives →

  15. 15HA
  16. 16
    HackerWeb▲189

    A simply readable Hacker News app

    2017 · its alternatives →

  17. 17HA

    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 →

  18. 18HB
  19. 19HN

    2020 · jgthms.com · its alternatives →

  20. 20HT

    Link: http://www.gethackertools.com Hey guys, I love Hacker News like all of you do, I spend a good portion of my time reading interesting content and the best, your replies... My only gripe is extra functionality that I know PG doesn't want to have to deal with... So I came up with this idea to make a super extension that does all the things I want, plus merges all the other cool HN extensions into one... Only problem? I don't have much time to put into it, so I figured why not open source it, and allow anybody in the community to fork it, improve it, add functionality, whatever they want,…

    2012 · its alternatives →

  21. 21

    Human-curated Hacker Noon stories in your new tab.

    2020 · its alternatives →

  22. 22QS

    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 →

  23. 23HS
  24. 24FT

    2016 · hackernewsfilter.com · 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 →