# Craigslist

70 Hacker News commenters recommended Craigslist and 32 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for simple, free local buying, selling and job listings, with useful search filters and direct contact with sellers. The most common caveat is that scams are frequent and poorly prevented.

## Why people recommend it

- Simple, fast, utilitarian site design (7 comments): "I like that the Craigslist site design is utilitarian and hasn't changed much over the years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49779721)) "Pinnacle because it was a simple, functional website back when it started in '95." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48591653)) "They're still super light weight, fit for purpose, and I am forever thankful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47490042))
- Direct, low-fee buying and selling (5 comments): "It's hard to get lower friction (register a new account) and lower fee (0%) than Craigslist." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48015394)) "I've had the best luck selling in Craigslist. Every other platform has been sub par." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48232157)) "I still use Craigslist when I need to sell something." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47628663))
- Good deals and finds (2 comments): "Theres some good deals, from honest people; unfortunately, you have to wade through the scams sometimes though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46550646)) "Good deals and things can still certainly be found on Craigslist" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50168443))
- Useful search filters (2 comments): "The search tools are more powerful, and you don't get a barrage of "is this still available?" messages followed by crickets." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46550235)) "At least you can actually use search filters on CL, and it doesn't just show you whatever it thinks you want to see." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46550756))

## What people warn about

- Scams are common and poorly prevented (3 comments): "They're just digital classifieds, the tradition is basically "anyone can list them, no one checks them, caveat emptor"." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48598894)) "Around 25% of rooms/apartments I contact are scams, and Craigslist has so far done nothing to prevent these." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48589311)) "doing business on ebay/craigslist/etc isn't that much different than doing it in a back alley" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48685073))
- Users moved to Facebook Marketplace (5 comments): "It was awesome in its hay day. Now, post-FBm, it feels like a ghost town." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46550369)) "everybody in my city has moved off craigslist to marketplace" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49701948)) "Craigslist has floundered and now Meta/Facebook Marketplace is dominating the private buying/selling space" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48594541))
- Profited from prostitution and trafficking ads (4 comments): "Craigslist was characterized by years of stagnation where the only thing that happened was they kicked out the prostitutes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46297696)) "They both profited, enormously, off sexual exploitation and human trafficking around the world" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48592358)) "He and James made hundreds of millions of dollars off ads for prostitution. Knowingly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48592485))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Facebook Marketplace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/facebook-marketplace.md): 63 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.craigslist.org/area/mobile)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Craigslist", https://hackerapproved.com/p/craigslist/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).