# MetaFilter

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/metafilter/

9 people recommended MetaFilter in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 12 months, in 10 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a long-running community weblog with good link posts and discussion, and a one-time fee to join.

Summary written by Claude from 13 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 11 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- High-quality, thriving community discussion (2 comments in the sample): "Two other fine examples of thriving online communities are metafilter and ravelry." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47263900)) "it was definitely one of the higher quality forums" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47341621))
- Good generalist links and discussion (2 comments in the sample): "If you like interesting and the occasional link fest rabbit-hole, have you seen metafilter?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45856613)) "enjoy tildes and metafilter  for generalist discussions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49914473))
- One-time fee keeps it going (2 comments in the sample): "I think it worked well for metafilter: $1/1euro one-time charge to join." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45782854)) "you pay them a living wage (like MetaFilter does" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49986793))

## Other discussion forums people recommend

- [Hacker News](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hacker-news/): 258 recommend, 81 mixed, 140 criticize
- [Reddit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/reddit/): 111 recommend, 113 mixed, 933 criticize
- [Lobsters](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lobsters/): 87 recommend, 16 mixed, 25 criticize
- [Old Reddit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/old-reddit/): 52 recommend, 7 mixed, 44 criticize

## Where to get it

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

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "MetaFilter", https://hackerapproved.com/p/metafilter/ (9 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.