AOL
Shares rank 5 of 12 internet service providers by recommenders
People recall AOL as their first gateway to the early internet, with easy drivers, chat and one account for everything. Critics say its dial-up service was expensive and crowded.
People recall AOL as their first gateway to the early internet, with easy drivers, chat and one account for everything. Critics say its dial-up service was expensive and crowded.
18 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 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 early internet experiences
“For many, AOL was their onboarding platform for the chaotic internet at large. It served that purpose well.”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Dialtone – AOL 3.0 Server” “I had great experiences on both in my formative years.”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “An old photo of a large BBS”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Expensive service and prices
“AOL's service was prohibitively expensive”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “Those AOL prices were insane.”
Comment from 8 Jan 2026 in “Play Aardwolf MUD”
Other internet service providers people recommend
The four most recommended other internet service providers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlink | 547 | 353 | 61% | 13 | 2 yrs12 owners | — |
| Comcast internet | 19 | 72 | 21% | 11 | 15 yrs4 owners | — |
| Google Fiber | 18 | 12 | 60% | 6 | — | — |
| Andrews & Arnold | 10 | 3 | 77% | 6 | — | Approved |
| AOLThis page | 9 | 9 | 50% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
16 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“With the current iteration, there is barely any competition left any more.”
“Even the ads they had later were much cleaner compared to yahoo, altavista, lycos, aol”
“their own crap version of AOL”
“This happened when AOL came online and destroyed early BBS and Usenet culture too.”
“That is one hell of a series of good DB migrations.”
“the AOL dialup busy signal fiasco of the mid-90's”
“We had a Gateway PC at home and AOL, but we weren't allowed to use anything networked”
“Spent countless hours chatting to strangers on aol.”
“hated having to steal other users AOL passwords because my large family couldn't afford internet”
“I had great experiences on both in my formative years.”
“AOL was the place to get drivers and such”
“it's easy to remember, and everything online account-wise is tied to it”
“Those AOL prices were insane.”
“For many, AOL was their onboarding platform for the chaotic internet at large. It served that purpose well.”
“AOL is not the internet we lost. It's literally what bigtech is trying to turn the rest of the internet into.”
“AOL's service was prohibitively expensive”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.