HTTP Cats
Ranked 3 of 7 reference documentations by recommenders
People use it as a quick, memorable lookup for HTTP status codes, and each code comes with a cat picture that people say lightens the mood.
People use it as a quick, memorable lookup for HTTP status codes, and each code comes with a cat picture that people say lightens the mood.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 20
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 95%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 10 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 20 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 20 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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
Quick lookup for HTTP status codes
“Anytime I need to check an HTTP status code I go to http.cat. I get the answer to my question and a cat picture as a bonus.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” “It's so easy to just go to http.cat/303 to check a status code you don't know”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” “most of the time I just directly open the specific status”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” - Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats”
- Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats”
- Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats”
- Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats”
- Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats”
- Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats”
Cat pictures lighten the mood
“Anytime I need to check an HTTP status code I go to http.cat. I get the answer to my question and a cat picture as a bonus.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” “I pull it up during troubleshooting conference calls for inevitable lightening of mood”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” “love this lol so many images I've never seen before”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” - Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats”
Memorable, easy-to-type domain
“The name is instantly memorable, it loads immediately, and I can ctrl-f it.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” “it's so easy to memorize this domain”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” Simple, lasting joy online
“http.cat is a testament of how simple, fun and silly the internet was back then.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” “Thank you for maintaining a piece of simple joy for more than a decade”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats” “This one endures and I love it.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “HTTP Cats”
Other reference documentations people recommend
The four most recommended other reference documentations, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stack Overflow | 235 | 499 | 32% | 12 | 15 yrs39 owners | — |
| MDN Web Docs | 27 | 6 | 82% | 7 | — | Approved |
| HTTP CatsThis page | 20 | 1 | 95% | 1 | 10 yrs3 owners | — |
| Unicode symbol reference page | 8 | 17 | 32% | 1 | — | — |
| Can I Use | 5 | 3 | 63% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
20 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I pull it up during troubleshooting conference calls for inevitable lightening of mood”
“it's been my go-to reference ever since”
“love this lol so many images I've never seen before”
“I always go straight to http.cat!”
“to double check what an http code is for”
“Anytime I need to check an HTTP status code I go to http.cat. I get the answer to my question and a cat picture as a bonus.”
“just typing "http.cat/411" into the URL bar”
“most of the time I just directly open the specific status”
“Thank you for maintaining a piece of simple joy for more than a decade”
“http.cat is a testament of how simple, fun and silly the internet was back then.”
“it's so easy to memorize this domain”
“This one endures and I love it.”
“http.cat made me think of those cat pages, thanks!”
“I ended up getting a call to explain why the website is showing middle finger to our VIP customer.”
“I always go to http.cat to find out what it is.”
“It's so easy to just go to http.cat/303 to check a status code you don't know”
“The name is instantly memorable, it loads immediately, and I can ctrl-f it.”
“this is exactly what I was looking for!”
“But HTTP+HTTPS would be better.”
“I love how there is a Catalan version too!”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.