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---
title: Lobsters alternative: daily.dev vs Lobsters | daily.dev
description: Lobsters vs daily.dev: a small, invite-only link aggregator with strict focus, or an open feed ranked for your stack. Which one fits how you read.
canonical: https://daily.dev/alternatives/lobsters/
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og:title: Lobsters alternative: daily.dev vs Lobsters | daily.dev
og:description: Lobsters vs daily.dev: a small, invite-only link aggregator with strict focus, or an open feed ranked for your stack. Which one fits how you read.
og:image: https://daily.dev/og-image.png?v=a830cdf1
og:site_name: daily.dev
og:locale: en_US
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twitter:creator: @dailydotdev
twitter:title: Lobsters alternative: daily.dev vs Lobsters | daily.dev
twitter:description: Lobsters vs daily.dev: a small, invite-only link aggregator with strict focus, or an open feed ranked for your stack. Which one fits how you read.
twitter:image: https://daily.dev/og-image.png?v=a830cdf1
---

## daily.dev vs Lobsters

Lobsters keeps quality high by keeping the door small: posting and commenting are invite-only, and the topics are strictly technical. daily.dev is open to every developer and keeps quality high by ranking a large, curated pool around what you follow.

Answers: "Lobsters alternative", "sites like lobste.rs", "invite-only Hacker News alternative".

- **Choose Lobsters if** you value a small, strictly technical community and you have, or can get, an invitation.
- **Choose daily.dev if** you want a feed that covers your whole stack, ranked for you, and a community you can join today.

### Side by side

| | daily.dev | Lobsters |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A personalized feed of developer content | An invite-only link aggregator |
| Built for | Developers, by stack and interest | Programmers who want strict focus |
| How it is ranked | Your interests plus community reactions | Votes and age, the same page for everyone |
| Where posts come from | Thousands of curated developer sources | Links submitted by members |
| Make it yours | Follow and block tags and sources, join squads | Hide tags you do not want |
| Discussion | Comments and upvotes on every post | Threaded comments, members only |
| Where you read it | New tab, web, iOS and Android | Web |
| Price | Free forever, optional Plus | Free |

### What Lobsters does well

Lobsters is a community link aggregator focused on computing. Anyone can read it, but you need an invitation from an existing member to post or comment, and every story is tagged so readers can hide topics they do not want. It is small, deliberately technical, and runs on open source code with a public moderation log.

- **Strict technical focus.** No business news, no launch hype. If it is on the front page it is about computing.
- **Tags you can filter.** Every story carries tags, and you can hide the tags you are not interested in. It is simple, transparent personalization.
- **Accountable community.** The invite tree and the public moderation log make for a calm, thoughtful comment culture.

### Where developers outgrow Lobsters

- **Hard to join the conversation.** Without an invite you can read but not post or comment. For many developers that means watching, not taking part.
- **A small pool of links.** Fewer members means fewer submissions. Popular stacks are covered well; less fashionable ones can go quiet for days.
- **Same front page for everyone.** Tag filters hide what you do not want, but the ranking is shared. Nothing moves your own stack to the top.

### What changes on daily.dev

- **Open to every developer.** Sign up and you can comment, upvote, post in squads and build a profile. No invitation needed.
- **More than filters.** Following a tag on daily.dev does not just hide the others. It tells the ranking what to bring to the top, and it keeps learning from what you read.
- **A much bigger pool.** Thousands of curated sources mean the niche stacks are covered too, not only the topics the members happen to share.

### Using both

Lobsters is a lovely second tab for the deep systems and language posts its members love. daily.dev is the daily feed for everything else in your stack, and the place you can join in without waiting for an invitation.

### FAQ

**How do I get a Lobsters invite?**

An existing member has to invite you. Lobsters also runs a public chat where people sometimes ask. Reading is open to everyone either way.

**Does daily.dev let me hide topics like Lobsters tags?**

Yes. You can follow and block tags and sources for free. daily.dev Plus adds keyword filters, which mute specific words across every feed.

**Is the quality on daily.dev as high?**

It works differently. Lobsters filters people at the door; daily.dev curates its sources and ranks by what developers actually read and upvote. The more you follow and downvote, the sharper your own feed gets.

### Further reading

- [Lobsters vs Hacker News: the invite-only alternative](https://daily.dev/blog/lobsters-vs-hacker-news-invite-only-alternative/)
- [The best Hacker News alternatives](https://daily.dev/blog/best-hacker-news-alternatives/)
- [The best developer news aggregators, compared](https://daily.dev/blog/best-developer-news-aggregators-compared/)

[All daily.dev alternatives](https://daily.dev/alternatives/) | [Lobsters](https://lobste.rs)

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