Britannica11.org
Ranked 4 of 7 online encyclopedias by recommenders
A free, fast online version of the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica that people enjoy browsing and find nostalgic. Critics note search and rendering errors.
A free, fast online version of the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica that people enjoy browsing and find nostalgic. Critics note search and rendering errors.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 70%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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
Feels like the original, but usable
“The goal was to make something that feels like the original, but is actually usable.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” “Those are both great projects and this one is definitely in the same spirit.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” “The articles have a personal tone and are less homogenized.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” Nostalgic browsing of old gems
“Very nice. I actually spent a bit of time browsing a few topics, which is something I rarely do these days!”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” “The 11th is full of gems like that, but they've never been easy to point people to.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” “As a time travel machine for the mind, this is great!”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” - Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica”
Fast, high-quality online resource
“I couldn't have imagined the quality of this Encyclopædia with this form that you have presented.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” “This is an amazing resource to have online.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” “Thanks a lot for this incredible gem!”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” - Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Text rendering errors in tables and fonts
“There’s an escaping issue in tables of contents.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” “the font you’ve chosen doesn’t support ℔”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” Fidelity and image problems
“I noticed some fidelity issues in your version”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica” “Something is wrong with images here”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “Britannica11.org – a structured edition of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica”
Other online encyclopedias people recommend
The four most recommended other online encyclopedias, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 404 | 327 | 55% | 12 | 20 yrs15 owners | — |
| Grokipedia | 52 | 161 | 24% | 10 | — | — |
| Local Wikipedia | 45 | 9 | 83% | 1 | — | — |
| Britannica11.orgThis page | 14 | 6 | 70% | 1 | — | — |
| Wikidata | 13 | 2 | 87% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
19 of the 24 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Something is wrong with images here”
“This encyclopedia is racist”
“There’s an escaping issue in tables of contents.”
“As a time travel machine for the mind, this is great!”
“I couldn't have imagined the quality of this Encyclopædia with this form that you have presented.”
“Very nice. I actually spent a bit of time browsing a few topics, which is something I rarely do these days!”
“this book predates the discovery of galaxies”
“Already better than all AI wikipedias.”
“I noticed some fidelity issues in your version”
“Thanks a lot for this incredible gem!”
“This is incredible and surprisingly nostalgic.”
“The articles have a personal tone and are less homogenized.”
“Searching for Zurich allows you to go to the article for the canton of Zurich, not the city.”
“Very, very well done. And it's fast!”
“The 11th is full of gems like that, but they've never been easy to point people to.”
“Those are both great projects and this one is definitely in the same spirit.”
“This is an amazing resource to have online.”
“the font you’ve chosen doesn’t support ℔”
“The goal was to make something that feels like the original, but is actually usable.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.