# Tiny Tapeout

15 Hacker News commenters recommended Tiny Tapeout and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Lets hobbyists get a small custom chip etched on real silicon for about $150; critics say it does not fix chip economics.

## Why people recommend it

- Affordable real-silicon chips for hobbyists (4 comments): "The end result is that even hobbyists can afford to have their small ASIC on real silicon." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49958148)) "If you have a couple hundred dollars, you can get a chip made through tiny tapeout" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47821526)) "deploy to actual silicon via Tiny Tapeout for $150 is honestly mind-blowing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46345036))
- Guides you through getting started (2 comments): "guides you through the process of getting your own design etched on silicon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48170164)) "Tiny Tapeout has its own guide for getting started" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49043634))
- Interesting ecosystem and community projects (2 comments): "the ecosystem deff piqued my interest" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47059002)) "Great tiny tapeout project" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974222))

## Where to get it

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

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Tiny Tapeout", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tiny-tapeout/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).