# HackerWeb vs HackerWatch

The clearest difference is price: HackerWatch at Free against HackerWeb's $2.99. HackerWatch also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 86%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). HackerWeb's advantage is chart position (#40 vs unranked) and ratings volume (10 vs 3). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

HackerWatch is free to download; HackerWeb costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for HackerWeb against 5.0 for HackerWatch. 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 HackerWatch's.

HackerWeb ships an update every 5 months, HackerWatch every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | HackerWeb | HackerWatch |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [5.0 (10 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackerweb-hacker-news-client/id1084209377/reviews) | [5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackerwatch-hacker-news/id6479969061/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **10** | 3 |
| Positive reviews | 85.7% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 months** | Every 7 months |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#40** | — |
| Size | 29 MB | 2 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Chee Aun Lim](https://appshunter.io/developer/1084209376) | [Dakota Kim](https://appshunter.io/developer/1391084970) |

## What reviewers say

### HackerWeb

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackerweb-hacker-news-client/id1084209377)

**Currently charting:** #40 Top Paid · News (US App Store)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### HackerWatch

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackerwatch-hacker-news/id6479969061)

Stay updated with the Hacker News community directly from your wrist. Browse top stories, read comments, and view original articles with this Apple Watch companion app. Easily share interesting content with others.

**Highlights:** Browse top stories, Read comments, View original articles, Share content, Apple Watch companion

**Features:** Apple Watch app

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is HackerWeb free?

HackerWeb costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is HackerWatch free?

HackerWatch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, HackerWeb or HackerWatch?

HackerWeb and HackerWatch are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 10 and 3 ratings respectively.

### Do HackerWeb or HackerWatch have ads?

Neither HackerWeb nor HackerWatch shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, HackerWeb or HackerWatch?

HackerWeb ships an update every 5 months, and HackerWatch every 7 months. Most recently, HackerWeb was updated on October 26, 2026 and HackerWatch on October 9, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*