Comparison

HackerNoon vs Hacker News by Emerge

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

Head to head
About

HackerNoon

Access a vast library of technology articles, tutorials, and perspectives on programming, startups, AI, and blockchain. Listen to stories on the go, create personalized playlists, and engage with a vibrant tech community. Discover recommendations tailored to your interests and build your profile.

Highlights
  • Audio player for stories
  • Cross-device access
  • Original and user-generated content
  • Personalized playlists
  • Community engagement and discussions
  • Personalized recommendations
  • User profiles
Features
Read full description

Explore a world of technology stories worth reading on the HackerNoon app. Dive into insightful articles, tutorials, and perspectives on programming, startups, AI, blockchain, and more. Stay informed about the latest tech trends and become part of a vibrant community of tech enthusiasts. Expand your knowledge with our key features designed for an engaging experience: - Listen on the Go with Our Audio Player: Can't find time to read? No problem! Our app can read stories aloud to help you stay informed while on the move. - Read Everywhere: Whether you're on your smartphone, tablet, or desktop, you can access HackerNoon and explore a wealth of captivating articles wherever you go. - Original Content All Around: Immerse yourself in a vast library of original stories and user-generated content, covering the latest tech trends, coding insights, and startup stories. - Create and Manage Playlists: Discover a story that resonates with you? Save it to your personalized playlist for easy access later. Bookmark and save your favorite stories, ensuring you never miss out on the content that matters most to you. - Newsletter Discovery: Fell in love with one of our contributors? Subscribe to them in-app and support their work while staying up to date with their publications. - Engage with a vibrant community: Share thoughts, join discussions, and shape the future of tech together. Be part of the conversation that matters by commenting and reacting to stories that pique your interest. - Discover Personalized Recommendations: Our app learns your preferences and provides personalized article recommendations tailored to your interests. Explore a curated selection of stories that match your tech passions. - Build Your Profile: Share your interests, skills, and expertise with the community, and connect with like-minded individuals in the tech and startup space. - Effortless Search: Explore any topic, any time. Our app's search feature makes finding what you're after easy, ensuring a smooth browsing experience. - Engage with our Polls: Join our weekly polls, and have a blast! Share opinions, gain insights, and contribute to the collective knowledge of the HackerNoon community. - Stay connected and informed with our notification feature: Receive timely updates and alerts for new stories, ensuring you're always in sync with the latest tech trends and insights. - Share and Connect: Easily send the articles you love to friends and colleagues using our diverse social sharing options. Foster collaboration, connect with like-minded individuals and propagate knowledge within your network. Download the HackerNoon app and embark on a journey of tech discovery, innovation, and thought-provoking insights. Stay informed, engaged, and connected with the HackerNoon community in one place.

About

Hacker News by Emerge

Experience Hacker News with a free, open-source client built for a fast, native iOS experience. Optimized for performance and efficiency, it's community-driven and welcomes developer contributions.

Highlights
  • Native iOS experience
  • Open source and community-driven
  • Performance and efficiency optimized
  • Fast and lightweight design
  • Developer contributions welcome
Features
Read full description

The best way to read Hacker News Introducing a free, open-source HN client designed to give you the best Hacker News experience. Developed by Emerge Tools (a Y Combinator company) in partnership with Supergooey. This app is a labor of love, crafted by a team with deep expertise in mobile app development. Why choose this HN client? • Native iOS Experience: We believe in the power of native apps. Hacker News for iOS is designed to offer a fast, smooth, and intuitive user experience that only a truly native app can provide. • Open Source and Community-Driven: The app is completely open source, inviting developers to contribute, learn, and improve it together. We want to give back to the HN community, which has been instrumental in our growth. • Performance & Efficiency: Leveraging Emerge’s newest tool, Reaper, we’ve optimized Hacker News for iOS to be as lean as possible, stripping away unnecessary code and resources to deliver a fast, lightweight app. • Dogfooding at its Best: We built this app to experience firsthand what our users do. By using Emerge’s own suite of mobile development tools, we’re constantly refining our product to make it better for everyone. We welcome your feedback and contributions. Whether it’s a feature request, a bug report, or a new idea, your input helps shape the future of the app. And if you’re a developer, contribute to our open-source codebase on GitHub: https://github.com/EmergeTools/hackernews/tree/main/ios Privacy Policy: https://www.emergetools.com/HackerNewsPrivacyPolicy.html

Screenshots

HackerNoon4 screens
Hacker News by Emerge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hacker News by Emerge at 100% against HackerNoon's 73%. Hacker News by Emerge also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). HackerNoon's advantage is ratings volume (21 vs 5) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.5). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hacker News by Emerge holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of HackerNoon's written reviews are positive against 100% of Hacker News by Emerge's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HackerNoon ships an update every 2 months, Hacker News by Emerge every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
HackerNoon versus Hacker News by Emerge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHackerNoonHacker News by Emerge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (21 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings21 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.5
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB9 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperHackerNoonEmerge Tools

Customer experience

HackerNoon

All ratings21 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%

Hacker News by Emerge

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

HackerNoon

No in-app purchases

None

Hacker News by Emerge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HackerNoon free?
HackerNoon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hacker News by Emerge free?
Hacker News by Emerge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HackerNoon or Hacker News by Emerge?
Hacker News by Emerge is rated higher. HackerNoon averages 4.7 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while Hacker News by Emerge averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do HackerNoon or Hacker News by Emerge have ads?
Neither HackerNoon nor Hacker News by Emerge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HackerNoon or Hacker News by Emerge?
HackerNoon ships an update every 2 months, and Hacker News by Emerge every 6 weeks. Most recently, HackerNoon was updated on September 22, 2026 and Hacker News by Emerge on August 21, 2026.

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