Comparison

HackerWeb vs Pulse for Hacker News

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

Pulse for Hacker News

Features
Read full description

Welcome to Pulse for Hacker News, the dedicated, high-performance client for the world’s most insightful tech community. Stop settling for slow, cumbersome interfaces. Pulse for Hacker News is engineered from the ground up to be the fastest, smoothest, and most dependable way to read, comment on, and track your favorite discussions across all your devices. - Extreme Fluidity and Speed Our primary focus is performance. Pulse for Hacker News delivers an "extreme fluidity" that transforms your reading experience: Instant Loading: Articles and comment threads load instantly, minimizing wait times and maximizing consumption. Buttery Smooth Scrolling: Navigate even the longest comment threads and front pages without a single stutter. Resource Optimized: Designed to be lightweight, preserving your battery life while delivering maximum speed. - Transparently Open Source We believe in transparency and community contribution. Pulse for Hacker News isn't just a reader; it's a public project built by the community, for the community. Trust and Security: You can inspect every line of code. There are no hidden trackers, no excessive permissions, and absolutely no ads. Your reading is your own. Community Driven: Found a bug? Have an idea for a feature? Our open-source model means you can contribute directly or influence the roadmap. We listen to our users. Contribute Today: Find our complete source code on GitHub (https://github.com/jarvislin/HackerNews-KMP). - Modern Design, Essential Features Pulse for Hacker News strips away the distractions and focuses on what matters: the content. Enjoy a suite of features designed to enhance readability and productivity: Intuitive Navigation: Easily switch between the Top, New, Best, and Ask HN feeds with a simple tap. Readability Mode: Open external articles in a clean, stripped-down view for distraction-free reading. Powerful Comment Threading: Clearly organized comment sections with easy-to-use collapse/expand options to follow conversations effortlessly. Cross-Device Consistency: Whether you’re on iOS or another platform, enjoy a consistent, reliable experience. Adaptive Themes: Choose between beautiful Dark, Light, and AMOLED modes to suit your environment and preferences. Why Download Pulse for Hacker News? If you are a serious Hacker News user who values privacy, speed, and a modern, reliable interface, Pulse for Hacker News is the perfect client for you. It’s an ad-free commitment to making the world’s best tech content accessible, fast, and completely transparent. Download Pulse for Hacker News now and join the community that's building the future of the mobile reading experience.

Screenshots

HackerWeb2 screens
Pulse for Hacker News4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pulse for Hacker News at Free against HackerWeb's $2.99. Pulse for Hacker News also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (15.3 vs 26.0). HackerWeb's advantage is chart position (#37 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases 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

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HackerWeb ships an update every 5 months, Pulse for Hacker News every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
HackerWeb versus Pulse for Hacker News: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHackerWebPulse for Hacker News
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (10 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings10 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#37 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB38 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperChee Aun LimDong Sian Lin

In-app purchases

None

HackerWeb

No in-app purchases

None

Pulse for Hacker News

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HackerWeb free?
HackerWeb costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pulse for Hacker News free?
Pulse for Hacker News is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do HackerWeb or Pulse for Hacker News have ads?
Neither HackerWeb nor Pulse for Hacker News shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HackerWeb or Pulse for Hacker News?
HackerWeb ships an update every 5 months, and Pulse for Hacker News every 3 weeks. Most recently, HackerWeb was updated on November 2, 2026 and Pulse for Hacker News on October 12, 2026.

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