Our World in Data
Shares rank 11 of 31 interactive visualizations by recommenders
Recommended for clear interactive charts comparing countries and topics like cancer and energy, though critics most often question its funding by venture capital backers tied to AI companies.
Recommended for clear interactive charts comparing countries and topics like cancer and energy, though critics most often question its funding by venture capital backers tied to AI companies.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 62%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not 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
Clear interactive charts for comparing countries
“They have good tools for visualising data and comparing between countries.”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons” “makes interactive graphs that are easy to understand”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “AI Uses Less Water Than the Public Thinks”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Funded by venture capital and billionaires
“It's literally funded and published by the VCs backing so many of the AI companies here.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “AI Uses Less Water Than the Public Thinks” “Our world in data is neoliberal think tank supported by billionares.”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “No more than 100 000 faint satellites should orbit Earth” Selective or misleading data presentation
“This is the second time this week I have seen this website misrepresenting data using this same trick.”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects” “That was not what ourworldindata chose (or had the data for) to showcase.”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Obsession with growth is destroying nature, 150 countries warn”
Other interactive visualizations people recommend
The four most recommended other interactive visualizations, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ciechanow.ski | 33 | 1 | 97% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Size of Life | 30 | 4 | 88% | 2 | — | — |
| PGSimCity | 27 | 3 | 90% | 1 | — | — |
| Ithihāsas | 18 | 3 | 86% | 1 | — | — |
| Our World in DataThis page | 8 | 5 | 62% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
13 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“websites like https://ourworldindata.org/ do a better job today”
“This is the second time this week I have seen this website misrepresenting data using this same trick.”
“Our World in Data is great, but this article would've been improved if it offered a chart”
“Our world in data is neoliberal think tank supported by billionares.”
“there are great Our World In Data pages showing that yes, cars really are much bigger emitters”
“OWID has a bunch of great visualizations about cancer, including ones that really show the progress we've made”
“It's literally funded and published by the VCs backing so many of the AI companies here.”
“makes interactive graphs that are easy to understand”
“the source used for these kinds of questions is not one of the VC firms at the root of these questions”
“crazy amount of habitable surface of planet is livestock”
“They have good tools for visualising data and comparing between countries.”
“This is just trash, like almost any AI benchmark.”
“That was not what ourworldindata chose (or had the data for) to showcase.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.