# Reddit 261 Hacker News commenters recommended Reddit and 988 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 14 years (54 owners). **Verdict:** People recommend Reddit for its niche communities, threaded comments and voting that surface useful answers, though many complain about bots, aggressive moderation, app nagging and the shrinking old.reddit experience. ## Why people recommend it - Niche communities found nowhere else (8 comments): "it has survived as a great example of how lots of different people with different interests and opinions can occupy different parts of the same platform" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46682848)) "I can think of many small Reddit communities that couldn't have flourished under Digg or the old phpBB style boards." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46974705)) "Reddit is still a shit show, but I still peer into niche communities you won't find anywhere else on the internet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46951293)) - Threaded comments and voting surface quality (4 comments): "the digg/reddit comment tree format is a clear improvement in the sense that it makes it easier to find and track interesting discussions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48757963)) "the ability to sort them by best all time is one of my favorite ways to filter for higher-quality content" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46840245)) "while they are a superior UI for discussions, the liveliness of discussions have a shelf life of a day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48757777)) - Good source of answers and information (4 comments): "Even today I generally trust Reddit comments, but it's important to check the context and commentor before proceeding." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46698358)) "you actually got much better answers if you appended "reddit" to the start of you google search queries" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50290165)) "It's a good place to gather information, but it's not a good place for discussion or for community." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48450436)) - Redesign and app have improved (3 comments): "the new design is now after at least 5 - 6 years of iterations on React, is finally useable and better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49022516)) "the native app is really nice since the last update. It uses native system navigation and controls." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49076435)) "I prefer the new design because the text is readable on my phone, and it has a native dark mode." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48337669)) ## What people warn about - Restricting old.reddit, API and third-party access (6 comments): "after having my app blown up by their API changes and the continued (unsurprising) push away from their old open platform to a more "curated" experience, it doesn't feel like the same place anymore." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49280888)) "Forcing you to log in to see old.reddit.com + forcing you into the app when viewing on mobile + the general toxicity just made it no longer worth it to use Reddit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50060903)) "They officially started blocking json access awhile ago, it broke all the apps for viewing reddit without an account" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49020776)) - Pushy app prompts, poor mobile web (5 comments): "Forcing you to log in to see old.reddit.com + forcing you into the app when viewing on mobile + the general toxicity just made it no longer worth it to use Reddit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50060903)) "I don't know how anyone can use the official reddit mobile app for more than 5 minutes. Between the ads and terrible interface it's an awful experience." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45848266)) "The website had been unusable on mobile for a good while, with the constant and ever-more-aggressive nagging about switching to the app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49445469)) - Overzealous mods and opaque bans (5 comments): "when I signed in using a different device (on the same home network) it triggered a total block on my account that required adding an email address" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47928719)) "As someone banned from Reddit, this violates TOS and (for me) resulted in a ban based on some kind of fingerprint that survives cookie wipes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50184419)) "Reddit is the most censored platform out there… posts and users that are not aligned with subreddit mods get banned or deleted prolifically." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48855463)) - Growing bots and manipulation (3 comments): "Of course, it's far from a paragon of truth, and it's getting more manipulated and overtaken by bots by the minute" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46104728)) "Reddit has some awesome characteristics. But over the past two years it's becoming more and more bots." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48023699)) "Unfortunately, reddit mod team is of no use, they cannot really tell who is high quality contributor vs who is getting nuked by fake accounts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48758299)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Hacker News](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hacker-news.md): 361 recommend - [Old Reddit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/old-reddit.md): 60 recommend - [Slashdot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/slashdot.md): 32 recommend - [4chan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/4chan.md): 28 recommend - [Tildes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tildes.md): 20 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.reddit.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Reddit", https://hackerapproved.com/p/reddit/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).