Is paulgraham.com legit?

88
/ 100
Trusted
Industry: Personal Blog

Paulgraham.com appears to be a trusted and long-standing online presence. While contact information isn't immediately obvious, its strong technical foundation and decades of operation suggest a legitimate platform.

Personal Blog average: 74/100 · based on 25 sites

Checked: April 18, 2026 at 11:31 AM UTC · Refresh

Is paulgraham.com a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 95/100

This site boasts a robust security posture with a valid, current SSL certificate utilizing modern TLS 1.3 encryption, and no threats detected by Google Web Risk or any DNS blacklists. This indicates a secure browsing experience for visitors.

Identity 90/100

With a domain aged nearly 28 years, paulgraham.com has an undeniable established online identity. This longevity is a strong indicator of legitimacy and consistent presence in its niche.

Reputation 90/100

The site's almost three-decade existence and clean record on DNS blacklists speak volumes about its reputable standing. Its significant global traffic further solidifies its recognized presence on the web.

Transparency 75/100

While the site provides essential legal pages (Privacy & Terms), the absence of easily located contact information on the homepage means users might have to dig deeper for direct communication, which is a slight detractor for transparency. It does link to one social platform, offering a facet of engagement.

Compliance 90/100

The presence of both a privacy policy and terms of service pages demonstrates a commitment to legal and user data compliance, which is expected for any reputable online platform.

Infrastructure 85/100

The site's infrastructure is generally solid, with good DNS resolution, properly configured email records, and fast page load times. The only minor point is the unsigned DNSSEC, which, while not a critical flaw for this type of site, represents a missed security enhancement.

Signals Detected

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #15873

This site has moderate global traffic

[?]
Structured Data: None found

No structured data markup found

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies

[+]
Domain Age: 27 years, 10 months

Domain created 1998-10-29T05:00:00Z (27 years, 10 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: easyDNS Technologies Inc.

Registered through easyDNS Technologies Inc.

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2026-10-28T04:00:00Z

Expires in 192 days

[+]
DNSSEC: unsigned

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[?]
Branding: Basic

Site has a favicon but no social sharing metadata

[+]
robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 16 directives and references a sitemap

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 134 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: DigiCert Inc

Certificate issued by DigiCert Inc

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.3

Connection uses TLS 1.3

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[+]
Website Status: Online

Website is live and responding

[~]
Contact Info: Not found

No obvious contact information found on homepage

[+]
Legal Pages: Privacy & Terms found

Website has both privacy policy and terms of service pages

[?]
Social Media Presence: 1 platform

Website links to one social media platform

[+]
DNS Resolution: 2 IP(s)

Resolves to: 52.204.244.237, 52.4.160.184

[+]
Email (MX Records): 2 record(s)

Mail servers: milter1.store.yahoo.com., milter2.store.yahoo.com.

[?]
Name Servers: 2 server(s)

DNS providers: ns1.turbify.com., ns2.turbify.com.

[?]
Sitemap: Not found

No sitemap found — common for smaller sites

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

Could not query certificate transparency logs

[+]
Page Load Time: 492ms

Fast page load

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When evaluating a personal blog like paulgraham.com, one of the most important factors for trust is its longevity and consistency. This site stands out with a domain age nearing 28 years, a remarkable feat for any online presence, let alone a personal one. Instead of a rapidly changing business, this suggests a stable, consistent platform for the author's work. For a personal blog, features like structured data or a dedicated Trustpilot profile are often unnecessary and their absence shouldn't be a red flag. What matters more is a reliable technical underpinning, which paulgraham.com clearly possesses. Its commitment to user safety is evident through a valid SSL certificate and a clean record with Google Web Risk, ensuring visitors can browse without security concerns. While direct contact information isn't immediately front and center, which would be expected for a commercial venture, it’s less critical for an established personal platform where the content itself is the primary interaction. Ultimately, when considering if paulgraham.com is legit, its decades-long history and robust security measures speak volumes. This isn't a fly-by-night operation but a well-maintained, authoritative source of content. Visitors can feel confident engaging with the articles and essays found here, knowing they are on a reputable and secure corner of the internet.