# TextLog 16 Hacker News commenters recommended TextLog and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended as a calm, text-only microblog with no likes, counters or engagement tricks, and a simple, fast interface. Critics raise latency from its European servers and the 280-character limit. ## Why people recommend it - Calm, simple, fast UI (3 comments): "I really like the UI of the site, its calm and soothing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49218935)) "It's blazing fast too. Good job." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49227076)) "Simple, open-source, nice UI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49212360)) - No likes, counters or engagement tricks (2 comments): "No likes, no karma points, no unnecessary notifications, no JS "X new posts" popups, no engagement trickery, no gamification." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49220384)) "It tries to be unconventional and against all of the engagement tactics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49345593)) - Constraint speeds up posting (2 comments): "I feel that this choice often makes it psychologically easier for users to post something quickly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217579)) "I am enjoying very much the constraint and it hasn't hindered any progress." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49376992)) - Open source with API (2 comments): "If you want to try it, we have an API you can pull your user feed from!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49213867)) "Simple, open-source, nice UI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49212360)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Substack](https://hackerapproved.com/p/substack.md): 87 recommend - [Leaflet (leaflet.pub)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/leaflet.md): 22 recommend - [Ghost CMS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ghost.md): 21 recommend - [Bear Blog](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bear-blog.md): 18 recommend - [Medium](https://hackerapproved.com/p/medium.md): 11 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "TextLog", https://hackerapproved.com/p/textlog/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).