Paracetamol
Ranked 4 of 6 pain relievers by recommenders
Recommended as the safer, most studied pain reliever than ibuprofen, but critics say it barely eases pain or fever.
Recommended as the safer, most studied pain reliever than ibuprofen, but critics say it barely eases pain or fever.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 41%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not 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
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 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
Safer than ibuprofen
“promoted as the safest, most well studied pain relief for short and chronic conditions”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know” “Paracetamol is in general safer than ibuprofen unless you are allergic to paracetamol”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “Efficacy of Ibuprofen versus Acetaminophen for Acute Fever in Febrile Children” “Paracetamol is also safer, so long as you don't OD.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know” - Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know”
Works better for pain
“Paracetamol [acetaminophen] usually is much better against pain.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know” “it works better than both ibuprofen and opioids for me”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Little relief for pain
“every time I've taken it I don't really feel any better”
Comment from 21 Jun 2026 in “15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test” “paracetamol does absolutely nothing to me with pain”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know” “paracetamol/ibuprofen/naproxen which did nothing”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know” - Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know”
- Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know”
Weak against fever
“paracetamol hardly does anything when it comes to alleviating fever symptoms”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know” “Paracetamol came in as safer but similar, yet no where near effective.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know” “for me paracetamol is worse in everything - fever, pain, etc.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “The Mystery in the Medicine Cabinet: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and what to know”
Other pain relievers people recommend
The four most recommended other pain relievers, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ibuprofen | 32 | 23 | 58% | 5 | — | — |
| Acetaminophen | 14 | 18 | 44% | 3 | — | — |
| Naproxen | 8 | 7 | 53% | 2 | — | — |
| ParacetamolThis page | 7 | 10 | 41% | 3 | — | — |
| Tylenol | 5 | 10 | 33% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
18 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Paracetamol is in general safer than ibuprofen unless you are allergic to paracetamol”
“every time I've taken it I don't really feel any better”
“Paracetamol does not stop pain/hurt.”
“promoted as the safest, most well studied pain relief for short and chronic conditions”
“paracetamol hardly does anything when it comes to alleviating fever symptoms”
“absolutely useless for a headache”
“compared to placebo only about 5% of people are painfree over the effect of a placebo when taking paracetamol”
“Paracetamol came in as safer but similar, yet no where near effective.”
“paracetamol also gives me pretty strong stomach aches”
“the common wisdom is paracetamol is the safest”
“for me paracetamol is worse in everything - fever, pain, etc.”
“Paracetamol is also safer, so long as you don't OD.”
“paracetamol does absolutely nothing to me with pain”
“it works better than both ibuprofen and opioids for me”
“paracetamol/ibuprofen/naproxen which did nothing”
“Paracetamol [acetaminophen] usually is much better against pain.”
“Paracetamol and canabinoids are a couple of rare exceptions.”
“Autism has been skyrocketting in prevalence since.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.