GitHub Gists
Hacker ApprovedCode snippet host in Developer tools
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.
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.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: 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 carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 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
Simple, free and works everywhere
“I love zola + gist. it works and I don't have to look at anything”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Jeffgeerling.com has been Migrated to Hugo” “Also having it across all devices is a big plus.”
Comment from 29 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: A private-ish bookmark app that uses GitHub Gist as its back end” “doesn't try to charge to keep the links forever”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Imgur for Markdown” Versioning, comments and API
“They come with versioning (I think), and have comment threads.”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “The fate of "small" open source” “And a decent API as well.”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “The fate of "small" open source”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Plain look, resembles a code repo
“They're incredibly useful but look pretty ugly.”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: gists.sh – Beautiful Viewer for GitHub Gists” “GitHub Gists look like a code repo”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Imgur for Markdown”
What people said
11 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“getting absolutely spammed to death by chinese-looking SEO-farming posts”
“Also having it across all devices is a big plus.”
“They're incredibly useful but look pretty ugly.”
“GitHub gist can renders some of \LaTeX, but not perfect.”
“doesn't try to charge to keep the links forever”
“GitHub Gists look like a code repo”
“I love zola + gist. it works and I don't have to look at anything”
“I wish I had known that there are no private github gists.”
“And a decent API as well.”
“They come with versioning (I think), and have comment threads.”
“managed users cannot even create Gists in GitHub Enterprise Cloud (ugh)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.