Tiny Tapeout

Chip fabrication service in Learning

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

17 people gave an opinion

Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works

The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.

Each mark is one comment

Affordable real-silicon chips for hobbyists
“The end result is that even hobbyists can afford to have their small ASIC on real silicon.”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Results from the ASIC puzzle”
“If you have a couple hundred dollars, you can get a chip made through tiny tapeout”
Comment from 19 Apr 2026 in “I'm Coding by Hand”
“deploy to actual silicon via Tiny Tapeout for $150 is honestly mind-blowing”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates”
- Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Why Is Vivado 2026.1 Dropping Linux Support for Free Tier?”
Guides you through getting started
“guides you through the process of getting your own design etched on silicon”
Comment from 17 May 2026 in “Every AI Subscription Is a Ticking Time Bomb for Enterprise”
“Tiny Tapeout has its own guide for getting started”
Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Designing an Ethernet Switch ASIC”
Interesting ecosystem and community projects
“the ecosystem deff piqued my interest”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Can a Computer Science Student Be Taught to Design Hardware?”
“Great tiny tapeout project”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Z80 turns 50 as an open-source drop-in replacement nears DIP40 silicon”

14 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“The end result is that even hobbyists can afford to have their small ASIC on real silicon.”

RecommendsComment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Results from the ASIC puzzle”

“The tiny tapeout project doesn't really fix the economics either.”

CriticizesComment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Designing an Ethernet Switch ASIC”

“Tiny Tapeout has its own guide for getting started”

RecommendsComment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Designing an Ethernet Switch ASIC”

“Great tiny tapeout project”

RecommendsComment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Z80 turns 50 as an open-source drop-in replacement nears DIP40 silicon”

“If you're a hobbyist who wants to make an ASIC”

RecommendsComment from 24 May 2026 in “Why Is Vivado 2026.1 Dropping Linux Support for Free Tier?”

“guides you through the process of getting your own design etched on silicon”

RecommendsComment from 17 May 2026 in “Every AI Subscription Is a Ticking Time Bomb for Enterprise”

“Very cool! I meant more hands on diy fab”

RecommendsComment from 19 Apr 2026 in “I'm Coding by Hand”

“If you have a couple hundred dollars, you can get a chip made through tiny tapeout”

RecommendsComment from 19 Apr 2026 in “I'm Coding by Hand”

“both run through a modern synthesis process for TinyTapeout”

MixedComment from 6 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: RISCY-V02: A 16-bit 2-cycle RISC-V-ish CPU in the 6502 footprint”

“the ecosystem deff piqued my interest”

RecommendsComment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Can a Computer Science Student Be Taught to Design Hardware?”

“it's probably a really good idea to do uncool things that don't require ASICs”

RecommendsComment from 8 Jan 2026 in “Solo ASIC tapeout on a budget: detailed write up”

“It's really cool but it doesn't seem practical at all.”

CriticizesComment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates”

“deploy to actual silicon via Tiny Tapeout for $150 is honestly mind-blowing”

RecommendsComment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates”

“Oh shit, this prompted me to check and turns out TinyTapeout is back to life!”

RecommendsComment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Pure Silicon Demo Coding: No CPU, No Memory, Just 4k Gates”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.