I Tried the ‘Hint’ Astrology App, Which Links You to a Personal Astrologist

These days, we can have vegan burritos, Shrek sexy toys, and personalized video messages from Lindsay Lohan at the smash of a digital button. And now, just in time for Mercury retrograde, one company is trying to make astrological data even more accessible—and personalized—than ever. We’re no strangers to digital astrology platforms, but Hint is the latest astrology app to shake up the booming astro-startup industry because it doesn’t just air out the behavioral and compatibility aspects of the 12 signs of the zodiac (spoiler: your Pisces bestie is plotting against you), but it actually connects users with their own personal astrologist. 

“We use NASA data to compare the position of the planets to the exact time, date, and place of your birth to produce the blueprint of your astrological identity,” says the Hint team on its website. “The insights in Hint are unique to each person, being carefully crafted by our AI engine [and] combined with the knowledge of our professional astrologers.” 

Right now, Hint is offering a seven-day trial for just $1, and 30% off your subscription with the promo code Hint22, so we decided to poke around the astral app and see what it’s all about for ourselves, from the initial chart data to the personalized astrologer service.

Mere seconds after plugging in my time and place of birth, the app assured me that its team has “helped 2,865,756 other women with their Sun in Cancer to understand themselves better,” and presented a whole smorgasbord of insights into my chart. You get to explore four different sections of the app, starting off with the basic horoscope section, which gives insights into how your sun sign is doing that day/week,  then the “Compatibility” section, which focuses on your relationships with others. Next, the “You” section takes a deep dive into your “big three” (sun, moon, and rising signs), and the final plunge is a “Guidance” tab that connects you with an IRL astrologist who can help you navigate everything from personal goals to getting through Mercury retrograde, which comes three to four times a year.    

“What’s actually happening is that speedy Mercury is overtaking Earth in its orbit around the Sun,” explains the Hint team about the cosmic occurrence. “Planets [usually] move from East to West around the Sun, but during retrograde, Mercury appears to be moving backwards from West to East. Hence its fearsome title.” The repercussions for us Earth-dwellers will vary, but generally, Mercury retrograde provokes a period of bunk communication and technological woes. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the next Mercury retrograde starts May 10, and wraps up its mischief on June 2. That means we have less than two weeks to get that new iPhone charger, make sure we didn’t double-book our Google Calendar, and ask our Hint astrologer for a game plan on how to tackle the period. 

Within a few hours, my astrologer—a kindly person named Johann—sent me a video breakdown when I asked him, “What will my week look like in terms of productivity?”

“I’ve just pulled up your chart,” he explained in the video, “and from what I can see, Mercury, the planet of communication, is currently moving through the area of your life related to finance and possessions. So, to answer your question briefly, your productivity [in that sense] is going to be going great this week.” Johann continued for another few minutes about what all of that means, and honestly, it was pretty freaky how spot-on he was; not only have I been taking steps to save and invest more money than usual this week (I just downloaded Acorns, per a co-worker’s rec), which I never do, but he went even deeper into my question by suggesting that I “take advantage of the current Taurean period” (one of grounding, stable energy) to apply that logical decision making to the communication of my personal needs. 

Having a personal astrologist is nothing new: It’s kind of one of the oldest hustles in the medieval and modern book. Princess Diana consulted her favorite personal astrologist on the regular, Ronald Reagan relied on one to inform his Jelly Belly flavor presidential decisions, and our wise BCE bro Hippocrates once declared that "a physician without a knowledge of astrology has no right to call himself a physician" (lol). How literally such high-profile people may have applied astro advice to their lives surely varied, but the reality is that astrology has become a well-oiled pseudoscience over the past 2,000-plus years—only, until now, the “personal astrologer” aspect seemed reserved for kings, presidents, and celebrities such as Spencer Pratt. So, props to Hint for recognizing that the rest of us esoterically bent plebeians should be able to access a personal astrologist on a curly fry budget.

Thus far, Hint’s tips seem pretty on-the-nose, and my personal astrologer has been almost spookily on-point for where I’m at in my life; the app has also been easy to navigate, and very accessible to folks who are new to the craft as well. If you’re more experienced with astrology, Hint will likely feel like a fun place to compare your own insights with that of the app’s NASA-driven data, and to connect with an astrologist who feels more like a personal advisor than anything. Whether you’re looking for a few personalized tips for getting through the next Mercury retrograde, or you’re curious about what a personal astrologer can dish about your cosmic blueprint, Hint is definitely worth checking out.  

Learn more about Hint and get personalized astrological readings on its official website.

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