Reddit is famously dubbed the front page of the internet and is an awesome site for finding cool content, engaging with discussions, and discovering niche passions and hobbies you didn't know existed.
The site's success is largely due to user engagement and community moderation, combined with its staggeringly massive user base.
But Reddit isn't the only community-based news aggregator out there. Here are six of the best Reddit alternatives to try out.
1. Hacker News
Hacker News shares the same design philosophy as the old Reddit front page. It boasts an admirably no-frills design, with the front page consisting of news headlines and text posts that you can upvote or discuss.
Unlike Reddit, there are no subreddit-style communities and you can't downvote posts.
Hacker News is almost exclusively devoted to tech news and discussion, although a small but healthy proportion of front-page posts also involve math, science, astronomy, politics, and news.
If an article you've written makes it to the Hacker News front page, it's something to be proud of.
2. Lemmy
Lemmy isn't a website. It's one of the best Fediverse servers and aims to provide similar functionality to Reddit.
Anyone can run their own Lemmy server and open it to users. Instead of subreddits, Lemmy has communities.
Lemmy runs on a federated model, which means that users on one Lemmy server can interact with posts and users on any other Lemmy server. As it's part of the Fediverse, you can also, to a limited extent, interact with users on most other types of Fediverse instances—including Mastodon, Pleroma, and Pixelfed.
There are more than 10,000 Lemmy instances online, most of which are good Reddit alternatives. To choose the one that's right for you, check out the Lemmy Community Browser.
3. Matrix
Matrix is a protocol and an open standard, providing an open network for secure, real-time communication.
Like email and the Fediverse, it's part of the decentralized web and aims to take your communications and discussions back from centralized control.
In this context, Matrix is used for connecting users and for chatting. Anyone can create their own Matrix server and run it from home. To use Matrix, you will need a Matrix client such as Element, WeeChat, or even the venerable Thunderbird email client. Alternatively, you can use the Element web app in your browser.
Through your client, you can explore servers and rooms and participate in topic-based discussions. Unlike Reddit, there's no upvoting or downvoting,
4. Discord
Discord began life as a chat platform for gamers and now hosts communities dedicated to every topic under the sun. Although it's centrally owned, users can create their own invite-only "servers"—essentially rooms dedicated to a particular topic.
These servers can host channels devoted to certain subtopics. In this respect, it's a decent alternative to Reddit.
Discord supports voice and video chat. Although it's free to use, it charges for "Boosts" which add functionality to the individual servers. There are thousands of Discord servers available ans it's easy to find a Discord server worth joining.
5. 4Chan
4Chan is a notorious image and discussion board, organized along similar lines to Reddit. However boards, the 4Chan equivalent to subreddits, are created by site admins rather than users. No new boards have been created since 2020.
The user interface is spectacularly unfriendly and registration is not permitted. All users post anonymously and are referred to as "anon".
At its best, 4Chan is a chaotic smorgasbord of entertaining content and funny stories. At its worst, it has a reputation for bigotry. Most content is also decidedly NSFW.
Having said that, there's not much on 4Chan that you can't find on Reddit if you know where to look.
Despite 4Chan's reputation and reality, you can find serious discussions on boards dedicated to food, gaming, technology, science, and more.
6. Imgur
Imgur was originally created in 2010 as a (mostly NSFW) image board for linking pictures to Reddit. Since then, it has grown into its own community.
Users can comment on images, and vote on both posts and comments.
While the most popular images and GIFs are in the front page gallery, there are topics dedicated to specific types of images and discussion, such as gaming, wallpapers, space, and current events.
Following a policy change in 2023, Imgur removed all anonymous and explicit content.
There Are Plenty of Alternatives to Reddit
Reddit may be the front page of the internet, but there are many other communities you can join or create if you've fallen out of love with the platform.
If you're spending too much time upvoting, liking, or otherwise scrolling on your phone, maybe it's time to quit social media altogether.