Back in the 2010s, there was a site called StumbleUpon. With one click, you could get a random website from their collection of millions of websites. Like today’s AI content discovery tools, you could just click yourself through thousands of websites without having to search for something specific, and discover the absolute best the internet offered at that time. It was addicting, and many of their former users explored the internet with it for years.
In the site’s last days, it was filled with advertisements and had to fight hard to overcome the spam that was pushed to it. Once the star of the internet, it began to fall and more people started using other platforms to find interesting stuff: Digg, Reddit, Twitter (now X), and Facebook, to name a few. In 2018, the site was shut down and replaced by Mix.com.
Even in 2025, many former StumbleUpon users still miss the site’s simple magic. Thankfully, there are more than enough modern alternatives that make exploring the internet fun again without relying on AI-curated feeds or viral content farms. Here is my collection of the best StumbleUpon alternatives for the post-social media era.
Mix
As mentioned above, Mix is the official successor of StumbleUpon. You can save and share your favorite websites for others to discover directly or to curated lists. You can compare it a little to the explore feature of Pocket. Instead of offering a regular website to explore stuff, you can use Mix via their mobile apps or browser extensions.
Cloudhiker
In 2019, I took the plunge into a passion project that had been brewing in my mind - creating a tool to explore the internet’s hidden gems. The result was Cloudhiker, a platform that aims to capture the magic of early web discovery that made the 2000s so special.
The concept is beautifully simple: you get served a completely random website from our carefully curated collection. Unlike other sites, Cloudhiker shows you the actual website directly whenever possible, letting you dive right into the experience. You won’t find any clickbait, listicles, or shallow content here - instead, you’ll discover truly remarkable sites that are fascinating, quirky, thought-provoking, or educational. Some will crack you up, others will spark deep reflection, and many offer incredibly useful tools that could transform your workflow.
In the past years, me and other people collected almost 24,000 websites, which were viewed over 21 Million times and gathered 200,000 likes.
Jumpstick
Jumpstick stands out as one of the best StumbleUpon alternatives, capturing the essence of that beloved one-click discovery experience. What makes it special is its topic-based approach - rather than throwing completely random websites at you, you can fine-tune your exploration by selecting very specific interests. Whether you’re into outdoor activities like camping and hiking, lifestyle topics like pets and yoga, or deeper subjects like psychology, you can customize your journey through the internet accordingly.
Reddit’s /r/InternetIsBeautiful
After some consideration, I decided to include Reddit - but not the entire platform. Instead, I’m specifically recommending one particular subreddit that captures that magical StumbleUpon feeling: /r/InternetIsBeautiful. While Reddit as a whole is an incredible content hub, this specific community perfectly recreates that sense of discovery that made StumbleUpon so special. The subreddit focuses exclusively on sharing remarkable websites - typically minimalist, single-purpose tools and experiences that you wouldn’t find through normal browsing. It’s like a curated museum of the internet’s most interesting corners.
The Useless Web
Looking for a wild ride through the internet’s most bizarre corners? The Useless Web is your ticket to pure digital chaos. I still remember my first visit years ago when it dropped me onto a website that did nothing but blast “Heeeey” and “Hoooo” on repeat - and that’s just the tip of the weird iceberg. Trust me, words can’t do justice to the delightful absurdity you’ll find here. You really just need to dive in and experience the madness for yourself.
Viralwalk
Taking a page from Jumpstick’s playbook, Viralwalk emerges as another excellent StumbleUpon successor. What sets it apart is their innovative “Flows” feature - a fresh twist on the classic stumbling experience. Instead of just jumping blindly to random sites, you’re shown a collection of previews with titles and screenshots. See something that catches your eye? Just click and you’re there. It’s like having a sneak peek before diving in, making the discovery process even more engaging.
Bored Button
Let me be real with you: I’ve lost count of the hours I’ve sunk into Bored Button. As far as StumbleUpon alternatives go, this one absolutely nails it, both in content quality and user experience. What makes it special is actually what it leaves out - there’s no fluff, no social features, no accounts to manage, not even the ability to save favorites. Just a beautifully minimalist design that gets straight to the point. And you know what? That stripped-down simplicity is exactly what makes it so addictive. Sometimes less really is more.
Sharkle
Another nice tool for exploring the web is Sharkle. It has a stronger focus on interactive web experiences and 3D art, and cool tools like online sculpting. There are a lot of examples coming from Codepen, but you can also find other stuff in there.
URL Roulette
While it’s not quite a direct StumbleUpon replacement, URL Roulette puts an intriguing spin on web discovery with its “give one to get one” approach. The concept is simple: you can only receive a new website after sharing one yourself, essentially creating a chain of user-submitted links. Perhaps unsurprisingly, YouTube dominates as the most frequently shared site. It’s a unique take on content discovery, even if it doesn’t fully capture that classic StumbleUpon magic.
StumblingOn
StumblingOn might be exactly what you’re looking for. It’s a new site that lets you discover random websites with a single click, just like StumbleUpon used to do. While it’s smaller and focuses more on indie websites, it captures that same addictive feeling of never knowing what cool thing you’ll find next.
Neocities
Neocities is keeping the spirit of the old-school web alive by giving people a place to create and host personal websites, much like GeoCities did in the 90s. But beyond just being a hosting platform, it’s become a thriving community of creative individuals making unique, often quirky websites. The best part about exploring Neocities is browsing through its “Browse” section, where you can discover everything from digital art galleries and personal blogs to web experiments and fan sites. Unlike modern social media, these sites aren’t trying to sell you anything or game an algorithm - they’re just pure expressions of people’s interests and creativity. I have added it to this list because it’s a great way to find websites, even though it doesn’t have a “Random Website” button.
Curlie
Curlie.org is essentially a massive human-curated directory of the web and emerged out of the old DMOZ directory. Instead of relying on algorithms, real people categorize and organize websites into detailed topics and subtopics. You can use it to explore the internet by diving into categories that interest you, from arts and entertainment to science and sports, then drilling down into increasingly specific subcategories. It’s particularly useful when you want to discover authoritative websites about specific topics or find niche communities that might not show up in regular Google searches.
Wiby
While Wiby isn’t primarily designed for random exploration, this unique search engine offers a fascinating window into internet history by focusing on vintage Web 1.0 sites from the 90s era. Its “surprise me” button is a delightful feature that randomly serves up a blast from the past from their collection, letting you stumble upon retro websites complete with basic HTML, classic layouts, and that nostalgic dial-up era charm.
Notable Mentions
The following sites are great to discover interesting content, although they offer a similar experience than StumbleUpon, or focus on a specific niche, like Web 1.0 websites.
- Ooh.directory is a curated collection of quality blogs that makes it easy to discover interesting writers and content creators. You can explore by categories, search for specific topics, or just browse random blogs to find new reads. It’s a great way to rediscover the world of personal blogging beyond the usual social media feeds.
- Similar to Wiby, The old Net is dedicated to old websites from the Geocities era. While there’s no “random website” button, it’s still fun to browse through their archives.
- Bored a lot is one of those places on the internet you visit when you really have a hard time entertaining yourself, maybe on a late sunday evening. It has a wide range of categories to choose from, but no StumbleUpon-like discovery feature.
- Dark Roasted Blend is similar to Useful Interweb: a blog dedicated to share links to the awesomeness of the internet on a regular basis. Great stuff to click through.
- Another great StumbleUpon alternative is Web Shuffle. I’ve only put it to the notable mentions because the redirect feature to new websites is sometimes a bit wonky, and I lost track of the Web Shuffle website a few times.
- Gimme Serendipity is one of the special alternatives for StumbleUpon. Instead of the regular “Click button for next website” button, you rate websites and get a new site based on your past ratings.
- The last site with a blog-like experience: Pointless Sites.
- Refind is not a place to discover great content on your own. It’s a daily newsletter with links to the most important or viral stuff.
Besides those websites, there are some alternatives to StumbleUpon that I found fascinating, but the websites are currently unavailable. I post the links in the hope, that you find them being online again when you read this post.
Bonus: Explore with Webrings
Webrings are a delightfully retro way to explore the internet, dating back to the 90s but experiencing a revival among indie web creators. Think of them as a circular chain of related websites - each site in the ring links to the next and previous sites in the sequence, usually through navigation buttons that say “next,” “previous,” and “random.” For example, you might find a webring dedicated to personal blogs, indie game developers, or digital artists. They are a great way to explore the internet!
Here are some collections, lists and general starting points for finding Webrings:
- sadgrl’s Webring list
- Hotline Webring
- foreverlikethis Webring
- Neocities Webring Masterlist
- slatecave webring list
If you noticed that a great alternative is missing, please let me know, and I’ll update the post. You can find my contact at the bottom of the page.
