ThreadSide
A browser extension that overlays Reddit, Hacker News, Bluesky, and YouTube comments beside whatever article you're reading, so the discussion lives next to the source.
Power news readers who follow stories through community discussion
- Auto-detects matching threads across HN, Reddit, Bluesky, and YouTube for the current page
- Resizable side panel with collapsible comment threads and jump-to-source quote linking
- Tracks links opened from any of those platforms so comments follow you back to the source
- Optional 'top-cited' view that surfaces the most-linked comments above the rest
The HN Show HN that triggered this trend proves readers hate the two-tab dance; extending the same affordance to all major communities is the obvious next step.
Multiple userscripts/extensions already attempt this (SideHN, HNewhere, Find On, Newsit, Comments Owl), and 'Reddit Anywhere' Show HN plus the original 64-point '2 tabs' post confirm a real itch — but the niche remains small and most competitors cap at Reddit+HN.GitHub - alin23/sidehn: Browser extension that shows a sidebar with HN comments ↗Show HN: Reddit Anywhere - Find Reddit discussions for any webpage ↗Find On - Reddit + Hacker News - Microsoft Edge Add-ons ↗
No existing tool combines HN + Reddit + Bluesky + YouTube comments in one sidebar; current solutions are single-platform (SideHN, HNewhere) or two-platform (Find On, Newsit), leaving the cross-platform overlay combo genuinely open.GitHub - twalichiewicz/HNewhere: A lightweight userscript that adds Hacker News discussions to any article ↗Newsit: Hacker News and Reddit Links - Chrome Web Store ↗
Browser-extension freemium conversion for free-to-paid switches typically lands at 0.3-1%, and free userscript competitors (HNewhere, SideHN) are open-source — a niche power-user tool will struggle to charge and is better suited to donations or ads.How to Monetize a Chrome Extension in 2026 (6 Revenue Models) ↗Browser Extension Monetization Statistics 2026: Free vs Paid ↗
Reddit's 2023 API shutdown and Chrome MV3 deprecation have already killed extensions in this space; YouTube comment scraping violates ToS, and continued reliance on third-party platforms creates real shutdown risk.Find On - Reddit + Hacker News - Microsoft Edge Add-ons ↗Comments Owl for Hacker News - Chrome Web Store ↗
The architecture is proven by multiple existing userscripts (HNewhere, SideHN) and uses public APIs (HN Firebase, Bluesky ATProto, Reddit JSON endpoints) plus iframes — straightforward to build an MVP, but YouTube and post-API-shutdown Reddit add real friction.GitHub - alin23/sidehn: Browser extension that shows a sidebar with HN comments ↗GitHub - twalichiewicz/HNewhere: A lightweight userscript that adds Hacker News discussions to any article ↗