Show HN Statistics 2026: How Many Points Posts Get and Whether Day or Title Matters
November 14, 2026 · Nicheloom · 4 min read · Data reports
Among 4,336 Show HN posts that reached at least 5 points between May 1 and November 6, 2026, the median score was 8 points. The top quarter reached 23 points or more, the top 10% reached 88, and the top 1% reached about 430. 44.8% got 10 points or more, 15.8% got 50 or more, 8.7% got 100 or more and 1.9% got 300 or more. The weekday and the words in the title made little difference.
An important limit: we only collect Show HN posts that reach 5 points, so these figures describe posts that got at least some attention. The typical Show HN post overall scores lower.
The numbers at a glance
| Question | Answer | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Median points | 8 | 4,336 posts |
| Top 25% reach | 23 points | 4,336 posts |
| Top 10% reach | 88 points | 4,336 posts |
| Top 1% reach | about 430 points | 4,336 posts |
| Posts with 10 or more points | 44.8% | 4,336 posts |
| Posts with 50 or more points | 15.8% | 4,336 posts |
| Posts with 100 or more points | 8.7% | 4,336 posts |
| Posts with 300 or more points | 1.9% | 4,336 posts |
What is a good score on Show HN?
Among posts that reached 5 points, 8 points is the median, so about half stay in single digits. Passing 23 points puts a post in the top quarter, 88 points in the top 10%, and roughly 430 points in the top 1%. About 1 in 11 reaches 100 points and about 1 in 53 reaches 300.
Does the day of the week matter?
Not much. The median is 8 or 9 points every day of the week, and the share of posts reaching 50 points ranges from 12.2% to 17.8%.
| Day | Posts | Median points | Share with 50 or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 653 | 8 | 15.6% |
| Tuesday | 769 | 8 | 16.4% |
| Wednesday | 744 | 8 | 12.2% |
| Thursday | 736 | 9 | 17.0% |
| Friday | 564 | 8 | 16.0% |
| Saturday | 399 | 9 | 17.3% |
| Sunday | 471 | 9 | 17.8% |
Weekend posts did slightly better in our data, but the gap is small and each group has several hundred posts, so we would not plan a launch around it. Wednesday had the lowest share of 50 point posts (12.2%), also a small difference.
Do the words in the title matter?
We checked how common some title patterns are and what median score they got.
| Title pattern | Share of posts | Median points |
|---|---|---|
| Mentions AI or LLM | 9.4% | 8 |
| Starts with "I built" or "I made" | 3.6% | 8 |
| Mentions open source | 2.8% | 8.5 |
| Mentions Rust | 1.2% | 9.5 |
| Contains a question mark | 1.0% | 11.5 |
| Mentions self-hosted | 0.8% | 7.5 |
Every pattern lands within a few points of the overall median of 8. The question mark group has the highest median (11.5), but it holds only 42 posts, so we would not draw a conclusion from it.
What this means for a launch
- Do not time it to the day. The data does not support a best day to post on Show HN.
- Do not rely on title tricks. Common patterns did not move the median.
- Plan for a slow start. Even among posts that got some traction, half stay under 9 points. Getting past 50 happens for about 1 in 6.
For how Show HN compares with launching elsewhere, see Hacker News vs Product Hunt: first launch data and the Product Hunt upvotes benchmarks.
Method and limits
- Source: Show HN posts collected daily from Hacker News, with their points at collection time.
- Window: May 1 to November 6, 2026, 4,336 posts. We include only posts that reached 5 points, which is why the minimum in our data is 5.
- Points can still rise after we collect a post, so final scores may be a little higher.
- Title patterns are simple text matches on the post title, and groups overlap.
- This describes a pattern across many posts. It cannot say what would have happened to any one post.
Data as of November 7, 2026, from Nicheloom's own daily tracking.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good score on Show HN? Among Show HN posts that reached at least 5 points, the median is 8. About 23 points puts a post in the top quarter, 88 in the top 10% and about 430 in the top 1%.
What is the best day to post on Show HN? Our data shows no meaningful best day. The median is 8 or 9 points every day, and the share reaching 50 points runs from 12.2% on Wednesday to 17.8% on Sunday.
What share of Show HN posts reach 100 points? 8.7% of posts that reached at least 5 points got 100 points or more, about 1 in 11.
Do Show HN titles with "open source" or "I built" score higher? No. Titles with "open source" had a median of 8.5 points and titles starting "I built" or "I made" had 8, against 8 overall.
How many Show HN posts are there? We collected 4,336 Show HN posts with at least 5 points from May 1 to November 6, 2026, about 559 in the 28 days to November 6.