Top HN is a Hacker News digest for readers who want the signal without spending all day refreshing the front page. It highlights the stories worth noticing, adds a short summary of each link, and explains what made the comment thread useful in the first place.
That matters because the most valuable part of Hacker News is often not the headline. It is the correction from someone who worked in the field, the rebuttal that changes how you read the article, or the comment that adds the missing business or technical context. Top HN is built to surface that layer faster.
What Top HN includes
Each digest is designed to help you scan quickly and click through only when it is worth it.
- a ranked list of the most important Hacker News stories for the period
- a concise summary of the linked article or source
- a summary of the discussion that made the thread interesting
- links back to the original Hacker News post and source URL
Daily vs weekly Hacker News digest
The daily digest is the fast version. It is for people who want a short morning or evening read and a quick sense of what technical readers were paying attention to that day.
The weekly digest is the broader version. It pulls together the stories and discussions that stood out over the course of the week, which makes it useful if you do not want a daily habit but still want to stay current.
Why this exists
A plain list of top Hacker News links is easy to find. What is harder to find is a digest that tells you why people cared, what they argued about, and whether the thread is worth your time. Top HN exists to make Hacker News easier to follow for developers, founders, investors, operators, and curious readers who like HN but do not want the time cost that comes with reading every thread from scratch.
How to use Top HN
- Scan the digest to see which stories mattered.
- Read the short summary to understand the main point of the article.
- Check the discussion summary to see what the HN thread added.
- Click through to the original story or thread when you want the full context.
Frequently asked questions
Is Top HN a replacement for Hacker News?
No. It is a guide to the best parts of Hacker News. If a story or thread looks especially useful, the digest links you back to the original discussion so you can read it in full.
Who is Top HN for?
It is for people who want a reliable Hacker News summary without turning Hacker News into a second job. That includes engineers, product people, founders, operators, investors, and readers who want strong technical discussion in a more compact format.
Can I subscribe instead of checking manually?
Yes. Both the daily RSS feed and the weekly RSS feed are available if you want Top HN in a feed reader or dashboard.