# Crowd Supply

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Crowd Supply and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Crowdfunding platform for open-source hardware, recommended for its expertise in bringing projects to market and for finding unusual open hardware. Common caveat: slow support when hardware arrives faulty.

## Why people recommend it

- Expertise getting projects to market (2 comments): "they provide all the expertise to actually get projects to market" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48799229)) "CrowdSupply is great - I ran a successful project through them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46262129))
- Successful projects and purchases (2 comments): "I bought quite a few projects via CS and never been disappointed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49624107)) "CrowdSupply is great - I ran a successful project through them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46262129))
- Wide range of open hardware (2 comments): "to see the plethora of fun and useful OSHW out there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46540877)) "might carry what you’re looking for" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49747309))
- Good for buying and selling (2 comments): "both to buy but also consider selling your own work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48758282)) "I bought quite a few projects via CS and never been disappointed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49624107))

## What people warn about

- Slow, unhelpful support for faulty hardware (1 comments): "The hardware was faulty, which was no big deal, but it took 3 months (!!!) of back and forth with their support" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50114604))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Kickstarter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kickstarter.md): 12 recommend
- [Open Collective](https://hackerapproved.com/p/open-collective.md): 8 recommend
- [Pieces](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pieces.md): 5 recommend
- [CleverCrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/clevercrow.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

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

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Crowd Supply", https://hackerapproved.com/p/crowd-supply/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).