Orange Juice

What it does

Orange Juice is a browser extension that adds quality-of-life features to Hacker News. It includes inline replies without leaving the thread, unread comment tracking to see what's new when returning to a discussion, keyboard shortcuts for navigation and common actions, user profile hover cards, and a personalized feed based on followed users. The extension also renders Mermaid diagrams and emoji shortcodes in comments, and provides keyboard shortcuts for copying story and comment URLs.

Who it is for

The extension targets frequent Hacker News users who want a smoother reading and commenting experience. It appeals to people who spend time in discussions and want to follow specific community members or quickly identify new activity in threads they care about.

Pricing

The site does not show prices.

How it stands out

Orange Juice is open source under the GPLv3 license, which means users can inspect the code and contribute improvements. The extension focuses on incremental usability gains rather than dramatic feature changes, working with Hacker News rather than against it. The unread comment tracking and personalized following feed offer discovery mechanics not present in the base site. Keyboard shortcuts are customizable, and the extension emphasizes privacy by being transparent about its code.

What a founder should check

First, investigate how many Hacker News users already rely on similar extensions or browser tools. Some power users may already have competing solutions or workarounds baked into their reading habits, which creates friction for adoption.

Second, examine Hacker News's own roadmap and API policies. If the parent site eventually builds any of these features natively, the value proposition erodes. The reliance on a third-party platform means Orange Juice's utility is capped by what Hacker News allows extensions to modify.

Third, consider the sustainability model. Browserextensions typically have low monetization options and no direct revenue streams. User feedback on GitHub suggests satisfaction, but understand how the creator plans to fund ongoing maintenance, especially as browser APIs change or Hacker News updates its frontend.