Score your Show HN title before you post: the prefix, length, clarity and hype words that Hacker News readers skip.
How to use the Show HN title scorer
- Paste your draft title.
- Read the score and the flagged issues.
- Rewrite until it plainly says what you built.
What works on Show HN
"Show HN: <Name> – <what it does, plainly>". No superlatives, no marketing tone, and something people can try right away without signing up if possible. Be in the comments to answer questions.
How the score adds up
Eight checks add up to 100. The exact prefix "Show HN: " with that casing is worth 25. Staying within 80 characters, the most Hacker News allows, is worth 15. Saying what it is, with at least 20 characters after the prefix, is 15. No hype words such as revolutionary, ultimate, blazing, game-changer or AI-powered is 15. No exclamation marks is 10, a name followed by a dash or colon and a description is 10, and no all-caps words (acronyms like API or SQL are fine) and direct phrasing are 5 each. The preview shows how the title sits on the front page.
Rewriting a weak title
Lead with the name, then a dash, then what it does in words a developer would use: "Show HN: Acme – open-source invoicing with a CLI". Swap claims for facts: "in 30 seconds" or "runs offline" beats "blazing fast". Drop "I built" or "we made"; the prefix already says that. If you can't describe it in under 80 characters, the pitch isn't clear yet. Mention open source, self-hosted or free in the title if true; HN readers look for them.