What Is HackerTube? And How to Build Your Own
HackerTube is Andrej Karpathy's clean, hand-picked video site built from Hacker News recommendations. Here is what it is, why people like it, and how Own Your HackerTube lets you run your own version for any niche.
If you have searched for "HackerTube", you probably want a short answer: what is it, who made it, and can I have one for my own interests? Here it is.
What is HackerTube?
HackerTube is a video site made by Andrej Karpathy. Instead of an endless algorithmic feed, it is a small, clean collection of videos that people on Hacker News recommended over the years. It looks like YouTube, but it is built to be a library, not a slot machine: you browse, you pick something good, you watch it.
The idea behind it is simple. The best videos about a topic are usually already known to the people who care about that topic. Someone just has to collect them and put them in one calm place.
Why people like it
- Someone already filtered it. You are not choosing from millions of videos, only from ones a community found worth recommending.
- No attention trap. There is no autoplay rabbit hole built to keep you scrolling.
- A familiar shape. A grid of thumbnails, a player, and a few related videos is all you need.
The limit: it is one person's taste
HackerTube is excellent for what it covers. But it is one curated library about one community's interests. If you care about indie hacking, biology, design, or investing, you would need to build the same kind of library for yourself, and keep it fresh by watching channels every week. Most people do not have time for that.
Own Your HackerTube: your own HackerTube, filtered by AI
This is why I built Own Your HackerTube. It borrows the shape of HackerTube and adds the missing part, the filtering:
- Write your standards in plain words. What you want, and what you do not (for example, "no clickbait, and nothing that only explains concepts without real cases").
- Follow YouTube channels you trust.
- An AI checks new uploads every day. Each video is scored against your standards. The ones that pass appear on your own YouTube-style site at
/s/<your-name>, with a reason why it is worth your time and key moments taken from the creator's own chapters. Timestamps are never invented. - Tell it when it is wrong. Mark a pick as great or not a fit, with a reason. Your judgment is added to the criteria for the next round.
You can also add videos by hand, with your own reason for each one, exactly as you wrote it.
This is not a video summarizer. The AI decides what deserves your time first. You still do the watching.
HackerTube vs Own Your HackerTube
- Who curates: HackerTube has one maker, working from Hacker News recommendations. Own Your HackerTube is you, with AI filtering by your standards.
- Topics: HackerTube covers Hacker News interests. Own Your HackerTube covers any niche you care about.
- Updates: HackerTube is maintained by hand. Own Your HackerTube scans the channels you follow every day.
- Feedback: HackerTube has none. In Own Your HackerTube, "great" or "not a fit" teaches the AI your taste.
Own Your HackerTube is inspired by HackerTube and is an independent project; it is not made by or affiliated with Andrej Karpathy.
Try it
Look at an example site to see how it feels, then create your own for free. The free plan includes up to 50 videos and a 14-day trial of the AI picks. If you want to know how the idea started, read the launch post.
Better input makes better thinking. Choose yours.