Comparison

Hacksy vs stdout.

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

Head to head
About

Hacksy

Features
Read full description

Hacksy is a modern and minimalistic Hacker News reader that serves as a one-stop shop for all tech-related news. Found an interesting article youโ€™d like to read later? Just swipe to add it to your bookmarks. Read a comment that resonated with you? Save it to reference it anytime. Want to search the extensive Hacker News archives? Hacksyโ€™s got you covered. What truly makes Hacksy stand out is its seamless reading experience โ€” you can follow both the discussion and the article at the same time, without ever having to choose between one or the other.

About

stdout.

Features
Read full description

stdout. is a native iOS client for Hacker News, built from the ground up with SwiftUI. It goes far beyond content aggregation โ€” offering a rich, interactive experience designed around how you actually read. DUAL THEMES Switch between two handcrafted visual modes. Zen offers warm, editorial typography with Georgia serif headlines. Terminal transforms the app into a retro green-on-black CRT aesthetic, complete with monospaced type and animated scanlines. OFFLINE-FIRST WITH SWIFTDATA Stories and comments are cached locally so the app loads instantly on launch. When your connection drops, you keep reading seamlessly with a subtle offline indicator. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Add a Top Stories widget to your home screen in Small or Medium size. The widget updates every 30 minutes and matches your in-app theme. Tap any story to jump straight to it. NATIVE INTERACTIONS Long-press any story to save it to Favorites, share the link, or hide it from your feed. Pull-to-refresh and save actions are accompanied by haptic feedback for a tactile, responsive feel. IN-APP READING Story links open in a themed Safari View Controller with optional Reader Mode โ€” no context switching to external apps.

Screenshots

Hacksy4 screens
stdout.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Hacksy at none against stdout.'s shown. stdout.'s advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hacksy ships an update every 2 months, stdout. every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Hacksy versus stdout.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHacksystdout.
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size6 MB5 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperJanusz PolowczykHanshuo Tan

In-app purchases

None

Hacksy

No in-app purchases

None

stdout.

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hacksy free?
Hacksy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is stdout. free?
stdout. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Hacksy or stdout. have ads?
stdout. shows ads; Hacksy does not.
Which is updated more often, Hacksy or stdout.?
Hacksy ships an update every 2 months, and stdout. every 4 days. Most recently, Hacksy was updated on October 1, 2026 and stdout. on September 21, 2026.

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