# GitHub Gists

10 Hacker News commenters recommended GitHub Gists and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend GitHub Gists as a free, simple way to share code, with versioning and an API. Critics mainly fault the plain look and weak privacy.

## Why people recommend it

- Simple, free and works everywhere (3 comments): "I love zola + gist. it works and I don't have to look at anything" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46488124)) "Also having it across all devices is a big plus." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47948432)) "doesn't try to charge to keep the links forever" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47126587))
- Versioning, comments and API (2 comments): "They come with versioning (I think), and have comment threads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45952739)) "And a decent API as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953423))

## What people warn about

- Plain look, resembles a code repo (2 comments): "They're incredibly useful but look pretty ugly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47334524)) "GitHub Gists look like a code repo" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47125574))

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://gist.github.com/starred)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "GitHub Gists", https://hackerapproved.com/p/github-gists/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).