Best time to post on Hacker News
How Show HN posts actually did by weekday and hour, from 11,452 posts over the last 90 days. Updated daily.
The short answer
Best slot (Eastern)
Friday 2pm
Reached 100 points, all slots
2%
Median points per Show HN
2
Sample: 11,452 Show HN posts submitted from July 12, 2026 to October 9, 2026. Most Show HN posts get very few points, so the useful number is not the average but the share of posts that broke out. The chart shows that share for every hour of the week.
By weekday and hour
When Show HN posts break out
| 12am | 1am | 2am | 3am | 4am | 5am | 6am | 7am | 8am | 9am | 10am | 11am | 12pm | 1pm | 2pm | 3pm | 4pm | 5pm | 6pm | 7pm | 8pm | 9pm | 10pm | 11pm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 29 posts, too few to judge | 23 posts, too few to judge | 0% of 42 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 52 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 52 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 46 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 63 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 64 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 88 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 128 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 128 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 142 posts reached 100 points | 6% of 122 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 95 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 94 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 84 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 94 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 61 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 41 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 47 posts reached 100 points | 36 posts, too few to judge | 35 posts, too few to judge | 37 posts, too few to judge | 32 posts, too few to judge |
| Tue | 0% of 45 posts reached 100 points | 31 posts, too few to judge | 0% of 46 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 55 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 54 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 62 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 67 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 110 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 188 posts reached 100 points | 4% of 227 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 221 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 200 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 142 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 114 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 99 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 105 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 79 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 72 posts reached 100 points | 6% of 54 posts reached 100 points | 5% of 44 posts reached 100 points | 36 posts, too few to judge | 39 posts, too few to judge | 38 posts, too few to judge | 37 posts, too few to judge |
| Wed | 0% of 40 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 51 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 43 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 63 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 60 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 55 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 66 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 89 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 161 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 164 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 205 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 179 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 156 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 139 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 88 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 72 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 73 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 72 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 46 posts reached 100 points | 32 posts, too few to judge | 33 posts, too few to judge | 2% of 48 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 43 posts reached 100 points | 33 posts, too few to judge |
| Thu | 33 posts, too few to judge | 26 posts, too few to judge | 0% of 43 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 40 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 56 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 60 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 60 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 89 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 149 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 167 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 179 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 172 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 121 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 123 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 101 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 97 posts reached 100 points | 4% of 81 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 65 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 43 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 50 posts reached 100 points | 7% of 43 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 43 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 41 posts reached 100 points | 34 posts, too few to judge |
| Fri | 30 posts, too few to judge | 39 posts, too few to judge | 5% of 40 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 51 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 48 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 45 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 63 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 79 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 97 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 114 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 147 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 114 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 102 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 79 posts reached 100 points | 7% of 75 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 85 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 64 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 67 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 50 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 41 posts reached 100 points | 29 posts, too few to judge | 15 posts, too few to judge | 30 posts, too few to judge | 16 posts, too few to judge |
| Sat | 14 posts, too few to judge | 36 posts, too few to judge | 19 posts, too few to judge | 35 posts, too few to judge | 37 posts, too few to judge | 38 posts, too few to judge | 32 posts, too few to judge | 0% of 42 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 50 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 55 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 55 posts reached 100 points | 1% of 69 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 71 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 63 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 55 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 60 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 49 posts reached 100 points | 35 posts, too few to judge | 2% of 47 posts reached 100 points | 27 posts, too few to judge | 27 posts, too few to judge | 13 posts, too few to judge | 24 posts, too few to judge | 30 posts, too few to judge |
| Sun | 30 posts, too few to judge | 31 posts, too few to judge | 32 posts, too few to judge | 0% of 43 posts reached 100 points | 33 posts, too few to judge | 4% of 49 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 50 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 45 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 64 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 75 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 80 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 92 posts reached 100 points | 6% of 65 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 76 posts reached 100 points | 3% of 66 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 57 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 58 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 56 posts reached 100 points | 0% of 48 posts reached 100 points | 2% of 43 posts reached 100 points | 5% of 40 posts reached 100 points | 29 posts, too few to judge | 33 posts, too few to judge | 27 posts, too few to judge |
Darker means a larger share of posts reached 100 points. Grey cells had fewer than 40 posts, too few to judge.
Best slots in Eastern (ET)
- #1
Friday 2pm
7% reached 100 · 75 posts
- #2
Monday 12pm
6% reached 100 · 122 posts
- #3
Sunday 12pm
6% reached 100 · 65 posts
- #4
Thursday 8pm
7% reached 100 · 43 posts
- #5
Tuesday 6pm
6% reached 100 · 54 posts
Reading the chart
What timing can and cannot do
Hacker News ranks a post by its votes against its age, so the first hour or two decide almost everything. Posting when more people are reading gives a good post more chances to collect early votes; it also puts it next to more competition. That is why the best slots are often just before the busiest hours, not in the middle of them.
Timing moves the odds by a few percentage points. A title that says plainly what the thing is, a demo that works without a signup and an honest first comment move them far more. Pick a slot when you can stay at the keyboard for two hours, and check the title with the Show HN title checker first.
FAQ
Questions about posting times
What is the best time to post on Hacker News?
In the 90 days up to October 9, 2026, the Show HN slot with the highest share of posts reaching 100 points was Friday at 2pm Eastern, where 7% did, against 2% across all slots. The effect is real but smaller than the effect of the post itself.
Does the day of the week matter for Show HN?
Somewhat. Tuesday had the most Show HN posts in the sample and Saturday the fewest. Busier days have more readers and more competition; quieter days have less of both. Look at the share of posts that broke out, not the raw volume.
Where does this data come from?
From the public Hacker News search API run by Algolia. We fetch every Show HN post from the last 90 days, ignore the most recent 2 days because those posts are still collecting points, and group the rest by the weekday and hour they were posted. The page refreshes once a day.
Why measure 100 points instead of the front page?
Hacker News does not publish front page history in its search API, and the points needed to reach the front page change with the time of day. A post with 100 points was almost certainly seen by a large share of readers, so it is a consistent stand-in.
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