comma.ai openpilot
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 9 driver assistance systems by recommenders
Open-source driver assistance that reduces fatigue on long drives and works hands-free on many cars. Common caveat: it does not reliably change lanes on its own.
Open-source driver assistance that reduces fatigue on long drives and works hands-free on many cars. Common caveat: it does not reliably change lanes on its own.
44 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 34
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 77%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 34 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Less fatigue on long drives
“Drive a comma.ai equipped car over a long road trip or other advanced driving aid, and just feel how much less frazzled you are after driving for a few hours.”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Has the Autonomous Trucking Revolution Arrived?” “reduces the monotonous mental load and frees up their brain to focus more on being aware of other drivers”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” “It increases situational awareness while reducing fatigue”
Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives” Open source and customizable
“These sort of shenanigans for even basic lanekeeping makes a very strong case for more open source solutions”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “Tesla kills Autopilot, locks lane-keeping behind $99/month fee” “You can run stock, or any fork simply by providing the URL of the version you want to run.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” “hardware that has no subscription and uses open source software”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: I built a site to find cars compatible with open source ADAS software” Safety-focused design and monitoring
“yes there are firmware safety checks + CAN checksums”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” “it's pretty well designed with safety in mind”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” “Comma has best in class driver monitoring”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” Hands-free without wheel nags
“Comma.ai lets you go completely hands free with no wheel nags.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” “You can go hands off for long periods.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Unsafe or illegal to use
“Incredibly dangerous, irresponsible, and illegal to be using this around other people.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” “Anyone using this in Washington is breaking the law, IMO”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” “It's terrible. How is this allowed on the roads?”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” Limited speeds and features
“Comma already does well with the car's built-in radar + vision on straight freeway runs, but can't reliably change lanes on its own.”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics” “there are limitations like: above 32mph, cannot resume from stop”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Universal Hands Free” Lacks independent safety validation
“Some basic quality assurance on the website would help me trust the quality assurance applied to their product offering.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands” “is every change validated by a safety agency? No.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Open-source self-driving for 325 car models from 27 brands”
Other driver assistance systems people recommend
The four most recommended other driver assistance systems, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) | 268 | 618 | 30% | 12 | 3 yrs32 owners | — |
| Tesla FSD | 73 | 88 | 45% | 12 | 2 yrs4 owners | — |
| comma.ai openpilotThis page | 34 | 10 | 77% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Tesla Autopilot | 27 | 148 | 15% | 8 | 2 yrs3 owners | — |
| comma.ai comma device | 24 | 4 | 86% | 11 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 58 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Drive a comma.ai equipped car over a long road trip or other advanced driving aid, and just feel how much less frazzled you are after driving for a few hours.”
“Openpilot's biggest weakness has always been in the very "robotic" way that it drives, which is technically correct but causes frustration for other drivers.”
“It isn't truly stick-and-go, you need to have existing ADAS and other sensors already in the vehicle.”
“OpenPilot and comma.ai are very close to a bolt-on after-market solution”
“It increases situational awareness while reducing fatigue”
“hardware that has no subscription and uses open source software”
“I appreciate the autopilot effort of comma”
“Comma already does well with the car's built-in radar + vision on straight freeway runs, but can't reliably change lanes on its own.”
“Speaking as a user of Openpilot / Comma device, it is exactly what the Wikipedia article described.”
“it's truly an amazing project, I've been user since 2019”
“Their final product is good, but there is a reason Waymo is winning.”
“Comma has best in class driver monitoring”
“Anyone using this in Washington is breaking the law, IMO”
“it's way easier to trust the system because it's not going to change lanes or anything surprising on you”
“is every change validated by a safety agency? No.”
“yes there are firmware safety checks + CAN checksums”
“Incredibly dangerous, irresponsible, and illegal to be using this around other people.”
“It's terrible. How is this allowed on the roads?”
“it's pretty well designed with safety in mind”
“reduces the monotonous mental load and frees up their brain to focus more on being aware of other drivers”
“Comma.ai lets you go completely hands free with no wheel nags.”
“You can run stock, or any fork simply by providing the URL of the version you want to run.”
“Proof is in the pudding and all, so here's a 4 year old video showing that comma.ai's capable of that”
“Commercial implementations back when this launched was vastly inferior to it”
“You can go hands off for long periods.”
“It's infinitely better than HDA2 at tracking and maintaining lanes.”
“As far as I know there haven't been any fatalities due to Comma tech.”
“OEMs would be smart to donate money to this”
“It works really really well, even on snowy northern roads.”
“Some basic quality assurance on the website would help me trust the quality assurance applied to their product offering.”
“I have one of these and I really enjoy it.”
“it's already a great value at this one”
“comma would be a great alternative from these clown”
“These sort of shenanigans for even basic lanekeeping makes a very strong case for more open source solutions”
“It's really really good cruise control on freeways.”
“It's an... interesting approach, They essentially reduce the surface area as much as possible. I don't buy that it's enough”
“They could have a better driving assistance package than 99% of other cars on the road for 1/10 the price”
“there are limitations like: above 32mph, cannot resume from stop”
“because at least you can tell that Comma has actual smart people that think about the code they are writing”
“CommaAI pulls it off with 5W computer and a single camera.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.