MAKE magazine
Ranked 11 of 11 magazines by recommenders
People recommend it for fun, full-of-projects issues that got them building their own electronics. Critics say it leans on recipes and instructions rather than building understanding.
People recommend it for fun, full-of-projects issues that got them building their own electronics. Critics say it leans on recipes and instructions rather than building understanding.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 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
Fun projects for building electronics
“I loved the little projects in Make magazine, I thought it was so cool that you could just build your own electronics.”
Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “Altoids Project” Full of projects every month
“full of people making projects every month”
Comment from 26 Feb 2026 in “Will vibe coding end like the maker movement?” Formative for readers in high school
“There is a direct through line from reading MAKE in high school”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “SparkFun Officially Dropping AdaFruit due to CoC Violation” Filled a hole for a while
“I guess MAKE filled that hole for a while.”
Comment from 19 Apr 2026 in “Archive of Byte magazine, starting with issue #1 in 1975”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Recipes over building understanding
“It's recipes and instructions not building understanding.”
Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “Electronics for Kids, 2nd Edition”
Other magazines people recommend
The four most recommended other magazines, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Byte magazine | 49 | 4 | 92% | 8 | 40 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Paged Out | 46 | 7 | 87% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The New Yorker | 26 | 10 | 72% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Dr. Dobb's Journal | 14 | 1 | 93% | 4 | — | Approved |
| MAKE magazineThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I loved the little projects in Make magazine, I thought it was so cool that you could just build your own electronics.”
“I guess MAKE filled that hole for a while.”
“It's recipes and instructions not building understanding.”
“full of people making projects every month”
“There is a direct through line from reading MAKE in high school”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.