# Primer

9 Hacker News commenters recommended Primer and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Open-source Socratic AI learning companion that moves through milestones so learners don't get lost. Contributors are invited to help build it.

## Why people recommend it

- Keeps learning on track milestone by milestone (2 comments): "milestone-first feels way better for actually learning and not getting lost after step 2." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47494701)) "Except Primer did that without this crutch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46436234))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Lathe by devenjarvis](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lathe.md): 18 recommend
- [Ello AI tutor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ello.md): 11 recommend
- [Academa](https://hackerapproved.com/p/academa.md): 7 recommend
- [Hope AI Tutor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hope-ai-tutor.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Primer", https://hackerapproved.com/p/primer/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).