Bus Pirate by Dangerous Prototypes
Ranked 4 of 4 hardware hacking tools by recommenders
A handy hardware device, still the most popular model and actively developed and supported. Some critics find its bytecode-style syntax complex.
A handy hardware device, still the most popular model and actively developed and supported. Some critics find its bytecode-style syntax complex.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: 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
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 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
Handy hardware tool that works fine
“I have an old v3.6 from Dangerous Prototypes that I still frequently use and works fine with a coding assistant”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “ESP32 Bit Pirate, a Hardware Hacking Tool with WebCLI That Speaks Every Protocol” “a handy little hardware device called the Bus Pirate”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “ESP32 Bit Pirate Hardware Hacking Kit with Web Tools That Speaks Every Protocol” “The Bus Pirate was quite a good tool.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “ESP32 Bit Pirate, a Hardware Hacking Tool with WebCLI That Speaks Every Protocol”
Other hardware hacking tools people recommend
The three most recommended other hardware hacking tools, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flipper Zero | 52 | 24 | 68% | 7 | — | Approved |
| ESP32 Bit Pirate | 13 | 8 | 62% | 3 | — | — |
| Kode Dot | 7 | 6 | 54% | 1 | — | — |
| Bus Pirate by Dangerous PrototypesThis page | 6 | 1 | 86% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“a handy little hardware device called the Bus Pirate”
“still the most popular model, and is actively developed and supported”
“One thing in BP v6's favor is the RP2350”
“relies heavily on a more complex bytecode-style syntax”
“I have an old v3.6 from Dangerous Prototypes that I still frequently use and works fine with a coding assistant”
“The Bus Pirate was quite a good tool.”
“Maybe use a bus pirate instead?”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.