Hacker News by Emerge vs Hacker News Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Native iOS experience
- Open source and community-driven
- Performance and efficiency optimized
- Fast and lightweight design
- Developer contributions welcome
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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
Hacker News Reader
A native iOS application offering a streamlined Hacker News experience. Users can read, vote, comment, and post stories, browse different sections, and organize content with custom groups. It prioritizes speed and privacy.
- Vote, comment, and post stories
- Browse Ask, Show, Jobs, and New sections
- Read threaded discussions
- Submit stories
- Create custom story groups
- iCloud sync for groups
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The best native Hacker News reader for iOS. Read, vote, comment, and post. HackerNows is a native iPhone app that brings the full Y Combinator Hacker News experience to your device. No webviews, no compromises, just a fast, clean way to stay on top of tech news and developer discussions. Everything you expect from HN: • Vote, comment, post, and favorite stories • Browse Ask, Show, Jobs, and New sections • Read threaded discussions with a clean, native layout • Submit stories directly from the app Organize your way: • Create custom story groups to save and sort what matters • iCloud sync keeps your groups updated across all your devices Built for the community: • Lightweight, fast, and privacy-focused • Optional patronage: support the app if you want, when you want https://hackernows.app/eula
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hacker News by Emerge at none against Hacker News Reader's 6. Hacker News by Emerge also leads on ratings volume (5 vs 1). Hacker News Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 6 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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
Both are free to download. Hacker News Reader sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Hacker News by Emerge asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Hacker News by Emerge against 5.0 for Hacker News Reader. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hacker News by Emerge has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Hacker News by Emerge ships an update every 6 weeks, Hacker News Reader every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hacker News by Emerge | Hacker News Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Emerge Tools | Rodrigo Cardoso |
Customer experience
Hacker News by Emerge
Hacker News Reader
In-app purchases
Hacker News by Emerge
No in-app purchases
Hacker News Reader
- Iron$0.991 Month
- Steel$1.991 Month
- Mithril$2.991 Month
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$2.99
- Large Tip$4.99
Questions
Is Hacker News by Emerge free?
Is Hacker News Reader free?
Which has better reviews, Hacker News by Emerge or Hacker News Reader?
Do Hacker News by Emerge or Hacker News Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Hacker News by Emerge or Hacker News Reader?
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