# Stage 32 Hacker News commenters recommended Stage and 11 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Developers recommend Stage for splitting large changes into guided chapters so reviewers focus on what matters. Critics say the paid plan is hard to justify. ## Why people recommend it - Guides reviewers through changes in chapters (8 comments): "CHAPTERS.md sounds like a good idea for when the auto-grouping doesn't match the actual structure of the work." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47807338)) "making the overall review experience as guided and obvious as possible for the human" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806760)) "we designed Stage with the intention of AI guiding the human, not replacing them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47818461)) - Solves a major review bottleneck (4 comments): "if a tool can solve this instead of potentially adding more friction to other engineers I'm all for it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806598)) "This is brilliant and really attacks the biggest bottleneck in my process." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47903326)) "This would have been a game-changer in previous projects I've worked on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48053536)) - Clear UX with navigation tour (2 comments): "Stage (op product) navigation tour is nice UX, about a day worth of work in addition to the incoming code tour." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47808621)) "Cool, simple demo that concisely shows the value." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48054520)) - Seen as best in its space (3 comments): "Stage was the best product in this space" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49307188)) "I can see this growing to replace github" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47967101)) "most human-centric so far" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806971)) ## What people warn about - Price is hard to justify (3 comments): "Y’all are a bit nuts if you want 50% more per month than Claude Pro for this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47807461)) "US$30/mo is a big ask for home hobbyist use!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48056045)) "No pricing page, you've lost my interest." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47809438)) - Not usable from the terminal (2 comments): "this is a browser experience that you trigger from the terminal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48053787)) "If this tool was in the terminal I'd use it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48053039)) - No clear moat against copying (2 comments): "Looks kind of neat like devon.ai review / reviewstack crossover. But as i tell every of the dozens projects trying to make a commercial review tool: i would rather spend a week vibe copying this than onboarding a tool i have to pay for" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47807516)) "This is a really cool idea but where's the moat?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806402)) - Adds little beyond commit organization (2 comments): "Isn't that what commits are for? I see no reason for adding this as an after-thought." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806213)) "It doesn't seem to do much other than organize your commits within a PR" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806895)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [GitHub Stacked PRs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/github-stacked-prs.md): 64 recommend - [Gerrit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gerrit.md): 60 recommend - [Graphite code review](https://hackerapproved.com/p/graphite.md): 52 recommend - [CodeRabbit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/coderabbit.md): 34 recommend - [Whiteboard IDE](https://hackerapproved.com/p/whiteboard.md): 29 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Stage", https://hackerapproved.com/p/stage/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).