# TRMNL e-ink display

28 Hacker News commenters recommended TRMNL e-ink display and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a dedicated e-paper dashboard that shows one thing well, with an open-source backend you can self-host. Critics say the company is shifting toward AI and is less transparent about self-hosting.

## Why people recommend it

- Open-source backend you can self-host (3 comments): "we've invested hundreds of thousands into open source so that people can get the TRMNL experience without paying us a penny" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47117630)) "you can run the entire backend if the company disappears" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47119335)) "Only ~$150, and you can self-host if you want." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47114910))
- Community-built plugins and integrations (2 comments): "our top community developers continue to hand craft beautiful, useful plugins for everyone to install" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48997362)) "they've got a Home Assistant plugin" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47861849))
- Easy to set up and enjoy (2 comments): "I really love it, and though I haven't hacked much on it, I really haven't needed to." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46123205)) "without any real friction from having to figure things out" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47120942))

## What people warn about

- Lost trust after company changes (2 comments): "It's so disappointing to watch trmnl, a really interesting hardware product concept, transition into being just another AI company." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48996488)) "my interest in giving money to this guy vanished after learning about this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002125))
- Unclear information about self-hosting (2 comments): "sorely disappointed with the transparency regarding self-hosted options" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47117446)) "I was trapped with no easy way to learn more about you guys" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48998101))
- Low resolution, grayscale or two colors (2 comments): "a lot lower resolution than a kindle but it'd be pretty cool" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47119033)) "TRMNL devices are either grayscale or 2 colors." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49721158))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Inkplate e-paper display](https://hackerapproved.com/p/inkplate-e-paper-display.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=TRMNL+e-ink+display&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://trmnl.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "TRMNL e-ink display", https://hackerapproved.com/p/trmnl/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).