# Bus Pirate by Dangerous Prototypes

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/bus-pirate/

5 people recommended Bus Pirate by Dangerous Prototypes in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 12 months, in 3 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

3 of the 5 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “ESP32 Bit Pirate, a Hardware Hacking Tool with WebCLI That Speaks Every Protocol”.

**Verdict:** A handy hardware device, still the most popular model and actively developed and supported. Some critics find its bytecode-style syntax complex.

Summary written by Claude from 7 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Handy hardware tool that works fine (3 comments in the sample): "I have an old v3.6 from Dangerous Prototypes that I still frequently use and works fine with a coding assistant" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48410105)) "a handy little hardware device called the Bus Pirate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49640693)) "The Bus Pirate was quite a good tool." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48409810))

## Other hardware hacking tools people recommend

- [Flipper Zero](https://hackerapproved.com/p/flipper-zero/): 35 recommend, 13 mixed, 20 criticize
- [ESP32 Bit Pirate](https://hackerapproved.com/p/esp32-bit-pirate/): 11 recommend, 1 mixed, 7 criticize

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://dangerousprototypes.com/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Bus Pirate by Dangerous Prototypes", https://hackerapproved.com/p/bus-pirate/ (5 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.