Charcuterie Unicode explorer
Unicode explorer
People like its visual similarity search for finding alternative characters and its polished design, though several critics find it of limited practical use.
People like its visual similarity search for finding alternative characters and its polished design, though several critics find it of limited practical use.
26 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 21
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 81%
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
- 21 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.2 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
Fun to browse and explore
“A cool website that can be gamified like Wikipedia!”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “What a lovely way to explore the character map.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “This is so cool, just bookmarked it”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” Finds visually similar characters
“Very impressive that I can sketch a character in the top-left and get a close match.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “I use it to find alternatives to "forbidden" characters in filenames.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “I use it to find icons I likr”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” Attractive, polished design
“especially the border around the grid, I really like it”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “Nonetheless the design is fantastic”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “Very cool concept and execution.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Limited practical usefulness
“the tool the OP posted seems cool for short periods of entertainment, but isn't very useful for utility”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “I question the usefulness though.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “seems cool for short periods of entertainment, but isn't very useful for utility”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” - Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer”
Search misses some emoji and kanji
“no matter how I draw a smiley face, I never get any smiley face emoji (or any emoji) as a suggestion”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “It only seems to work for some subset of CJK characters.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “search doesn't work for Japanese kanji”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” Results don't look visually similar
“It would seem it takes in account a bit more than "visual similarity", otherwise I can't find a good reason for "@" and "U+1F582 (BACK OF ENVELOPE)" being that close.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer” “it doesn't show visually similar symbols, it seems to be random stuff”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer”
What people said
24 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“especially the border around the grid, I really like it”
“seems cool for short periods of entertainment, but isn't very useful for utility”
“the tool the OP posted seems cool for short periods of entertainment, but isn't very useful for utility”
“isn't very useful for utility”
“This is so cool, just bookmarked it”
“it doesn't show visually similar symbols, it seems to be random stuff”
“A cool website that can be gamified like Wikipedia!”
“no matter how I draw a smiley face, I never get any smiley face emoji (or any emoji) as a suggestion”
“It would seem it takes in account a bit more than "visual similarity", otherwise I can't find a good reason for "@" and "U+1F582 (BACK OF ENVELOPE)" being that close.”
“the delay will become grating especially if one is using the app in a utilitarian manner”
“I use it to find alternatives to "forbidden" characters in filenames.”
“UX is easy and intuitive.”
“It only seems to work for some subset of CJK characters.”
“search doesn't work for Japanese kanji”
“Nice aesthetic. Terrible design.”
“I use it to find icons I likr”
“I question the usefulness though.”
“Cool but maybe consider a different name?”
“The sound is perfectly restrained and animation is intentional.”
“Nonetheless the design is fantastic”
“Very impressive that I can sketch a character in the top-left and get a close match.”
“Very cool concept and execution.”
“the characters are awful small on my iPhone 14 Pro”
“What a lovely way to explore the character map.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.