Comments Owl for Hacker News
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 34 of 70 browser extensions by recommenders
A browser extension for Hacker News that lets you block users and noisy threads, making the site easier to read and less stressful to use.
A browser extension for Hacker News that lets you block users and noisy threads, making the site easier to read and less stressful to use.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 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
Widely recommended among HN browser plugins
“Plenty of browser plugins that do this. I like HN Comments Owl.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: Orange Juice – Small UX improvements that make HN much easier to read” “That extension already exists and works well.”
Comment from 8 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Is it time for HN to implement a form of captcha?” “Best thing since sliced bread.”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “Loud noises heard in Venezuela capital, southern area without electricity” Blocks users and off-topic derailing
“in my opinion it's all but impossible to use HN nowadays without a blocklist”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “Comments Owl for Hacker News browser extension” “This is a great tool to avoid the constant de-railing of headline topics”
Comment from 25 Dec 2025 in “Fixing HN comments with breadth-first navigation” “Has a block-this-user feature. Available for the major browsers.”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Is it time for HN to implement a form of captcha?” Makes HN tolerable and less stressful
“one of many available plugins that make this place tolerable”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans.” “it does help my blood pressure”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Head of FCC threatens broadcaster licenses over critical coverage of Iran war”
Other browser extensions people recommend
The four most recommended other browser extensions, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SponsorBlock | 137 | 4 | 97% | 13 | — | Approved |
| Firefox Multi-Account Containers | 76 | 13 | 85% | 10 | 7.5 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| NoScript | 61 | 11 | 85% | 12 | 10 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Claude in Chrome | 53 | 42 | 56% | 9 | — | — |
| Comments Owl for Hacker NewsThis page | 10 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
12 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“'Comments Owl for Hackernews'. Yw.”
“It has a "Dark Mode" under options, plus it allows you to revisit a thread later and know which comments are new.”
“Plenty of browser plugins that do this. I like HN Comments Owl.”
“They are aligned vertically and they have a bigger clickable area than [-].”
“A plugin like HN Comments Owl would be more useful IMHO.”
“it does help my blood pressure”
“one of many available plugins that make this place tolerable”
“in my opinion it's all but impossible to use HN nowadays without a blocklist”
“Has a block-this-user feature. Available for the major browsers.”
“That extension already exists and works well.”
“Best thing since sliced bread.”
“This is a great tool to avoid the constant de-railing of headline topics”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.