Share a project in the form each place expects: a short write-up on DEV Community or Hashnode, a runnable demo on Hugging Face Spaces, a repository with topics on GitHub, a link to Changelog News or Show HN if it is something people can try, and a free launch board for a permanent page. Sharing is storytelling, so lead with what you learned, not with what you want people to do.
What is the difference between sharing a project and launching it?
A launch asks people to adopt a product. Sharing asks them to look at something you made and maybe learn from it. The distinction decides where you go: places that welcome sharing reward a story, a lesson or a good demo, and they punish a thinly disguised advert. Several of them say so in their own rules.
Take a hobby project such as a tool that turns a spreadsheet of birthdays into a printable calendar. There is no business to announce, but there is a story in how the layout algorithm works, and a demo anyone can open. That is a perfect candidate for a write-up and a demo host. A paid scheduling product with a pricing page is a launch, and belongs on the places in where to launch a startup.
Most projects are somewhere between the two. If you are unsure, share first. You can launch later with a better page and a few real comments to quote.
Which places welcome shared projects?
Facts come from each site’s own pages, read on 13 November 2026.
01 DEV Community
A blogging community for developers, where a post can carry up to four tags, including showdev for things you built.
Cost
Free account
Format
A written post with code, images and embeds
Tags
Up to four per post
Its editor guide asks for a clear, descriptive title with relevant keywords and supports embeds, so a post can include a live demo and a repository card. A good share explains one decision, such as why you picked SQLite, with the project as the example.
The dev.to playbook shows an outline. Do not post the same text in several places; a post written for this audience will read as an advert elsewhere.
A blogging platform that says it hosts a blog on your own domain, free to start.
Cost
Its homepage says “Start your blog, free”
Format
A blog under your name or your domain
Account
Yes
The difference from a community site is ownership: the posts live on a blog that is yours, so a project write-up keeps working as a permanent page. That suits a project you will keep updating.
Its homepage pitches that posts can be read and cited by search and AI assistants. Treat that as a reason to write clearly, not as a promise of traffic.
A developer news feed from the Changelog podcast network, with a submission form.
Account
Sign in or up to submit
Own work
Its page says submitting your own work is encouraged
Not wanted
How-tos, commercial products and services, reader-hostile sites
The form asks for a URL, a title and what is interesting about it. The page says it receives many submissions and asks you to convince the editors why something is newsworthy, which is a useful discipline for any project share.
The exclusion of commercial products is clear. A free open-source tool fits. A paid service with a sales page does not. Read the list before you submit.
Subject tags on a repository, which GitHub uses to group projects on its Topics pages.
Cost
Free
Effect
Topics appear on the repository page and group it with similar projects
Fits
Any public repository
GitHub’s docs say topics help people find and contribute to a project, describing its purpose, subject area or other qualities. It is the cheapest share there is: ten minutes to add precise tags, and a one-line description that states the job.
The repository itself is a shareable page, so write the README for a stranger. A screenshot, an install line and a working example do more than any tag.
A directory of small runnable apps, titled “The AI App Directory”, where a project is shown as a live demo.
Account
Yes, to create a Space
Fits
Machine-learning demos and small interactive tools
A demo is the most convincing form of sharing, because it removes the question of whether it works. Its documentation covers Gradio, Streamlit and Docker Spaces. If your project is not about models, it may still fit as a small interactive app, but check the audience first.
The Show HN section and the site’s general guidelines, which speak directly to people posting their own work.
Cost
Free; account to post
Own stuff
OK part of the time; the site’s main use should be curiosity
The general guidelines say not to use the site mainly for promotion, and that posting your own work part of the time is fine. A person who only ever posts their own links is the person the rule is aimed at.
The Show HN playbook explains the format. The guidelines also ask that posts not contain generated text, so write yours yourself.
An invitation-only computing community where stories are tagged from a fixed list.
Access
By invitation
Self-promotion
Under a quarter of your stories and comments, as a rule of thumb
Its guidelines say authors are welcome but the site should not become a write-only tool for announcements. New accounts cannot submit self-promotion for their first 70 days, so the way in is to take part first.
A free launch board, ours, that gives any project a permanent page with votes and threaded comments.
Cost
Free; one verified email
After publishing
Final; a change is an email to support
Catch
Small audience
A shared project often needs one stable address to link from every other place. Launch it here for free, and because the outbound link to your site is an ordinary followed link, the page doubles as a small pointer to the project.
One sentence on what it does, plain enough that a stranger repeats it.
The reason you built it, in one honest paragraph.
One thing that surprised you. This is the part people quote.
A link that works with no account, so the demo is the proof.
What is unfinished, so nobody has to find out.
If the project began as an idea someone else posted, say so. The app ideas board exists for builders who want something to make, and crediting the source is both honest and a reason for someone to read on.
How often is it fine to share?
Once per real milestone: a first working version, a meaningful release, a lesson worth writing down. Hacker News and Lobsters both ask outright for variety in what you post, and a feed of only your own links reads as spam wherever it appears. Pair each share with a reply to somebody else’s project, and keep a rhythm you can sustain. The subreddits for sharing your project page covers the communities that mind this most.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I share a personal project for free?
Write it up on DEV Community or Hashnode, add precise topics to its GitHub repository, host a runnable demo on Hugging Face Spaces if it is model-based, and give it a permanent page on a free launch board. Post on Show HN only if people can try it at once. Each of these costs nothing.
Is sharing my own project on Hacker News allowed?
Yes, with limits. The guidelines say it is fine to post your own work part of the time, but the site’s main use should be curiosity, and a Show HN must be something people can try. Do not ask friends to upvote or comment. Be ready to discuss the project in the thread.
How do I share a project without it looking like spam?
Lead with what you learned or what surprised you, link something that works without an account, and answer replies. Post once per real milestone, and write for each place separately instead of pasting one message. Take part in other people’s threads so your link is not the only thing you contribute.
Does a GitHub repository count as sharing?
It is a shareable page if you write the README for a stranger and add precise topics. GitHub says topics help others find and contribute to a project. On its own a repository rarely draws visitors, so link it from a post and a launch page.
Should I share a project before it is finished?
Often, yes, if you say plainly what works and what does not. A demo of a half-built tool gets better replies than a polished announcement. The exception is Show HN, whose guidelines ask that people can try the project first and say not to post until it is ready.
Post your build ideas publishes this page and runs a free launch board that competes with some of the sites it names. Facts about other sites came from their own pages on the date shown above; terms, queues and prices change, so confirm on their sites before you decide. About the publisher.