Comparison

HackerWeb vs HackerBook

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

HackerWeb

A clean and readable client for Hacker News, designed with iOS guidelines in mind. It offers intuitive navigation for stories and comments, automatic dark mode, and code syntax highlighting.

Highlights
  • Dual Web and Comments tabs
  • Revolutionary comments thread UI
  • Automatic Dark mode
  • Smart indentations and formatting
  • Automatic syntax highlighting for code blocks
  • Upvoting and replying
  • Comment's 'Thread view'
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

HackerWeb is a super-clean Hacker News app built for maximum readability and has a lean set of features to optimize the reading experience. It’s created specifically with iOS design guidelines in mind, so it feels native and blends well with the operating system. It has a simple set of features that are usually invisible: - Dual Web and Comments tabs for easy switching between the story’s web page and the list of comments - Revolutionary comments thread UI for easy navigation, with smart collapsing to prevent being overwhelmed by too many comments - Automatic Dark mode, respecting the system’s appearance settings. - Smart indentations and formatting for comments, complementing the existing limited formatting from Hacker News. - Automatic syntax highlighting for code blocks in comments, with best-effort programming language detection. - Allow interactions like upvoting and replying, which opens up web view with login information and sessions stored in itself, instead of the app. - Comment’s “Thread view” to list all parent comments of a comment, on a flat list, for easy reading instead of manually drilling down the nested comments. - “Share as Image” for comments, which allows sharing of a specific comment, optionally including the parent comments and/or story, as an image. HackerWeb is an unofficial Hacker News client, built with React Native and Expo. This is a passion side project for learning and experimenting ideas. Since 2012. Open-sourced: https://github.com/cheeaun/hackerweb-native-2

About

HackerBook

Stay updated with the most popular discussions on Hacker News through a streamlined interface. This app makes it effortless to immerse yourself in the tech community's latest conversations.

Highlights
  • Trending topics showcase
  • Streamlined interface
  • Tech community buzz
  • Effortless navigation
  • Immersive tech discourse
Features
Read full description

Stay in the loop with the top trending topics on Hacker News using our streamlined app. Our main interface showcases the hottest discussions, ensuring you are always updated with the tech community's buzz. Navigating the vast world of Hacker News has never been this effortless and efficient. Dive in and immerse yourself in the heart of tech discourse! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

HackerWeb2 screens
HackerBook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: HackerBook at Free against HackerWeb's $2.99. HackerBook also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). HackerWeb's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#41 vs unranked). On rating, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

HackerBook is free to download; HackerWeb costs $2.99 up front. HackerBook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. HackerWeb asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for HackerWeb against 5.0 for HackerBook. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 3 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of HackerWeb's written reviews are positive against 100% of HackerBook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HackerWeb ships an update every 5 months, HackerBook fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and August 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
HackerWeb versus HackerBook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHackerWebHackerBook
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (10 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#41 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB9 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperChee Aun LimTao Xu

Customer experience

HackerWeb

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

HackerBook

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

HackerWeb

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

HackerBook

Subscriptions1
  • Exclusive News$2.991 Month
One-time1
  • Tips$0.99

Questions

Is HackerWeb free?
HackerWeb costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is HackerBook free?
HackerBook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HackerWeb or HackerBook?
HackerWeb and HackerBook are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 10 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do HackerWeb or HackerBook have ads?
Neither HackerWeb nor HackerBook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HackerWeb or HackerBook?
HackerWeb ships an update every 5 months, and HackerBook fortnightly. Most recently, HackerWeb was updated on September 10, 2026 and HackerBook on August 24, 2026.

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