Show HN: Horizon – Private alternative to Imgur

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Product & Core Features

  • Horizon is presented as a privacy-focused alternative to Imgur for hosting and sharing images, videos, files, and pastes.
  • Supports browser uploads, a macOS and Linux (AppImage) desktop app, and ShareX integration; Windows app is not yet available.
  • Features include link sharing, optional custom domains on the paid plan, pastes (including end-to-end encrypted ones), and video streaming for supported formats (e.g., MP4).

UX & Feature Feedback

  • Early users praise the clean design, attention to detail, and ease of use.
  • Reported issues: slow dashboard updates, missing/slow thumbnails, awkward dropdown behavior, pagination oddities, and upload errors on many parallel video uploads.
  • Requested features: select-all, list view vs grid, better move/delete UX, drag-and-drop and clipboard paste uploads (some of which were quickly implemented).

Pricing, Sustainability & Viability

  • Free tier: 500MB with generous bandwidth; paid “Everest” plan: ~100GB for a low monthly price.
  • Some consider the free plan very generous; others see the paid plan as expensive compared with general cloud storage (Google Drive, OneDrive, MEGA).
  • Debate on whether image/file hosting is a viable business at all; some say it inevitably trends to ads or shutdown, others argue careful limits and pricing can work.
  • The creator claims the model is already profitable and has been iterated over several years.

Privacy, Security & Encryption

  • All files are encrypted at rest by the service; an optional extra “Encryption” layer uses user-held keys the service does not store.
  • Some question marketing encryption while having stronger options off by default and note that if the service controls keys, it’s only “so private.”
  • Requests for independent security review, clearer communication, and possibly certifications.

Content Moderation & Legal Risk (CSAM, Abuse)

  • Service currently does not proactively scan files, citing privacy concerns, and relies on user reports.
  • Multiple commenters strongly warn this is legally and practically risky, especially for private links and a free tier with minimal signup friction.
  • Experiences from other hosts: rapid influx of CSAM and other abuse, legal/hosting-provider pressure, and psychological burden of manual review.
  • Consensus from many: a purely report-based model for private hosting is likely untenable; legality must trump privacy here.

Infrastructure, Performance & Terms

  • Uses Cloudflare in front and Backblaze B2 in the EU for storage; this causes higher latency for some non-EU users.
  • Some suggest Cloudflare caching; others point out Cloudflare’s terms restrict using the free/standard CDN for image-heavy origins without paid products (R2/Images).
  • Bandwidth costs are debated; some say commodity servers make it affordable, others highlight cloud egress costs.

Positioning vs Competitors

  • Comparisons to Imgur, Gyazo, Streamable, MEGA, and generic cloud storage.
  • Tension between marketing it as an “Imgur alternative” (social/meme sharing) vs what it resembles in practice (personal file host/screenshot tool).
  • Some argue competitors offer more storage or enterprise features; others value Horizon’s simplicity, lack of ads, and focus on frictionless sharing.