HackStream vs HNPulse
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
HackStream
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HackStream is an unofficial Hacker News client designed to streamline your experience.Β At its core, HackStream has a customizable upvote threshold and you only see stories that meet that level in your feed.Β That way, you can enjoy a clean, focused feed of high-quality posts.Β ou can bookmark, comment, reply, and upvote directly. Browse new, top, best and more.Β HackStream keeps you in control of the Hacker News content that matters most to you.
HNPulse
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HNPulse is a native iOS reader for Hacker News with AI-powered Comment Insights that instantly summarize discussions, highlight key arguments, and surface useful resources. BROWSE & READ β’ Top, Best, New, Ask HN, Show HN, and Jobs stories β’ Threaded discussions with color-coded comment depth β’ In-app article reader with Safari Reader β’ Search stories powered by Algolia AI COMMENT INSIGHTS β’ Instant TL;DR for any discussion β’ Key arguments ranked by strength β’ Community sentiment and contrarian views β’ Useful resources extracted from comments INTERACT β’ Sign in to your HN account and upvote stories β’ Configurable swipe actions β bookmark, share, upvote, or open in Safari β’ Long-press context menu for quick actions β’ Save stories for later with bookmarks β’ Tap any username to view their profile CUSTOMIZE β’ 5 themes including Dark and AMOLED Black β’ Adjustable font sizes and compact mode β’ Smart caching for offline reading β’ iPad-optimized layout with sidebar navigation No accounts required. No tracking. No ads. Your data stays on your device. Privacy Policy: https://napso.github.io/hnpulse-site/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: HNPulse at 17.0 against HackStream's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. HackStream sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and HNPulse sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
HackStream ships an update every 3 weeks, HNPulse fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HackStream | HNPulse |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Fortnightly β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad β better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FiveSheep OU | Natascha Abrek |
In-app purchases
HackStream
- Notifications$1.99
HNPulse
- Annual Premium$3.991 Year
- Unlimited Insights$2.99









