# SmugMug

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/smugmug/

6 people recommended SmugMug in Hacker News comments and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 4 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

3 of the 6 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Flickr: The First and Last Great Photo Platform”.

**Verdict:** Long-running photo hosting service people trust to keep their photos safe, and a model others copy. Critics point to the free tier's 1000-photo limit and dated design.

Summary written by Claude from 6 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Saved photos from being lost (1 comment in the sample): "Thanks to SmugMug, need to give credit to them for saving it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46482429))
- Loyal long-term customer experience (1 comment in the sample): "I was a happy customer for almost 20 years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48574236))
- Beloved feature on its platform (1 comment in the sample): "it's a core and beloved feature on our other platform, SmugMug" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47909961))
- Copied as a model (1 comment in the sample): "just turn it into an exact copy of SmugMug" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47907282))

## What people warn about

- Free tier capped at 1000 photos (1 comment in the sample): "wasn't it Smugmug that introduced the 1000 photo limit for free users?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47143007))
- Dated, busy early-2000s web design (1 comment in the sample): "holy early 2000s big bold brash neon web design" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911804))

## Other photo sharing services people recommend

- [Flickr](https://hackerapproved.com/p/flickr/): 35 recommend, 15 mixed, 27 criticize
- [Glass photo sharing](https://hackerapproved.com/p/glass/): 6 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.smugmug.com/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SmugMug", https://hackerapproved.com/p/smugmug/ (6 recommend, 0 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.