Is Dev.to better than Hacker News for promoting a developer product?

It depends on what “better” means for your product, but in most cases:

• Dev.to is usually better for early-stage product marketing
• Hacker News is usually better for technical credibility and occasional big spikes in attention

Dev.to is a better fit if you want:

• A more welcoming audience for product content
• Articles that explain a problem and show how your product solves it
• More predictable engagement
• A place where self-promotion is less likely to get punished, if the post is genuinely useful

Hacker News is a better fit if you want:

• Feedback from a more skeptical, technically strong audience
• Visibility among founders, engineers, and investors
• A shot at a large traffic spike
• Validation from a community that tends to reward originality, depth, and technical substance

The main difference

• Dev.to rewards helpful, educational, community-oriented content.
• HN rewards interesting, novel, and technically substantive content—and can be harsh on anything that feels like marketing.

Practical takeaway

If you’re promoting a developer product, a common strategy is:

1. Publish a useful technical post on Dev.to to build awareness and explain the product.
2. Submit something strong to HN only if you have a genuinely interesting technical angle, story, or launch.

Short answer

• For consistent product promotion: Dev.to
• For high-risk, high-reward exposure: Hacker News

If you want, I can also compare them on:

• audience quality
• conversion potential
• SEO value
• community rules / self-promotion tolerance