555 timer IC
Timer ic in Tools & making
People recommend the 555 timer as a cheap, versatile, easy-to-learn chip that needs no programming, though critics say it is rarely the best choice today.
People recommend the 555 timer as a cheap, versatile, easy-to-learn chip that needs no programming, though critics say it is rarely the best choice today.
29 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 11
- approval share
- 62%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good for timing and switching circuits
“it makes a really nice missing pulse detector, better than you can easily do with comparators”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” “my favorite use of a 555 is in a solar charge controller. It is a voltage controlled switch!”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “EEVblog: The 555 Timer is 55 years old” “My favorite 555 use was as a one-shot to power off a NIC after using its wake-on-LAN signal”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “EEVblog: The 555 Timer is 55 years old” Good for beginners and learning
“The 555 timer is perhaps the easiest oscillator for a beginner if you are willing to put up with +/-10% drift.”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “It's hard to build an oscillator” “A few 555 can teach people a lot, and burning out parts is part of the learning process.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” Versatile, used in many projects
“I remember seeing many projects that use it throughout the years in wacky ways”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “EEVblog: The 555 Timer is 55 years old” “The 555 is a versatile little thing.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” Fun and delightful to use
“555s are such delightful little guys.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “EEVblog: The 555 Timer is 55 years old” “555 timers are a lot of fun.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Superseded by newer, better options
“poor/early designs like the 741 opamp that has since been superseded by much better chip designs”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” “it's also now almost never the best or even a good solution for any of the problems it solves”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” “too high level; most of the stuff you can build with 555 you can do with standard BJTs”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” Power hungry, drains batteries
“The 555 is very power hungry compared to a typical cheap low-power microcontroller.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” “if I tried to operate them from a battery, the 555 would drain it in hours”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” Changing it means rewiring or desoldering
“To do the equivalent with a 555 timer means, at minimum, de-soldering a bunch of components”
Comment from 10 Jun 2026 in “RIP software hackathons. Long live the hardware hackathon” “you can't patch those implementations without physically rewiring them”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” Seen as amateurish or cringe
“it seemed to be a hobbyist's chip that real consumer products didn't use and felt amateurish”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All” “Sure, it's kind of cringe. I've shipped stuff with 555 timers in it.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All”
What people said
30 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“To do the equivalent with a 555 timer means, at minimum, de-soldering a bunch of components”
“555s are such delightful little guys.”
“My favorite 555 use was as a one-shot to power off a NIC after using its wake-on-LAN signal”
“my favorite use of a 555 is in a solar charge controller. It is a voltage controlled switch!”
“than to figure out the circuit and component values for a 555 or op-amp”
“how magic this was when it debuted”
“I remember seeing many projects that use it throughout the years in wacky ways”
“Suddenly a boring 555 looks pretty good.”
“a seasoned EE could take one look at the physical circuit and know exactly what it does”
“555 timers are a lot of fun.”
“Sure, it's kind of cringe. I've shipped stuff with 555 timers in it.”
“no one sane has used the bipolar version since the Carter administration”
“it makes a really nice missing pulse detector, better than you can easily do with comparators”
“poor/early designs like the 741 opamp that has since been superseded by much better chip designs”
“too high level; most of the stuff you can build with 555 you can do with standard BJTs”
“if I tried to operate them from a battery, the 555 would drain it in hours”
“capacitors are very rarely the capacitance they claim”
“it made good sense to have a component that didn't have to be programmed”
“A few 555 can teach people a lot, and burning out parts is part of the learning process.”
“it's also now almost never the best or even a good solution for any of the problems it solves”
“He liked the strength of the output transistor.”
“it seemed to be a hobbyist's chip that real consumer products didn't use and felt amateurish”
“The 555 is very power hungry compared to a typical cheap low-power microcontroller.”
“The 555 is a versatile little thing.”
“which is at least 3 times more expensive”
“you can't patch those implementations without physically rewiring them”
“A NE555 could be sufficient and even more reductionist.”
“I think a 555 is maybe more than required for the buzzer.”
“The 555 timer is perhaps the easiest oscillator for a beginner if you are willing to put up with +/-10% drift.”
“the REAL eternal chip is the 555 introduced in 1972”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.