{"slug": "evil-mode", "name": "Evil-mode", "category": "editors", "category_name": "Editors and IDEs", "description": "An extensible Vim emulation layer for the Emacs text editor.", "recommenders": 7, "commenters": 7, "warners": 0, "score": 6.503, "rising": 2.69, "first": "2025-11-01", "latest": "2026-10-29", "why": "Praised as the best Vim emulation layer, with modal editing that feels built into Emacs and is stable enough for full-time use.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 8, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 4], "listed": true, "loved": ["Vim emulation", "Best of both"], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "using evil-mode was _very_ helpful in making the switch easier so I recommend that", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://github.com/emacs-evil/evil", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Evil-mode", "Evil", "evil-mode"], "verdict": [{"text": "Praised as the best Vim emulation layer, with modal editing that feels built into Emacs", "cites": [{"id": 804666512, "item_id": 50291657, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50291657", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Evil-mode in Emacs is just wonderful. It's the best vim-emulation layer", "excerpt": "> Vim implementation quality varies wildly from environment to environment is extremely frustrating to me. I know exactly what you're talking about. I am a die-hard vimmer and used vim plugins in every editor/IDE/browser/shell/multiplexer/WM/etc. I use vim bindings system-wide. I control my music, switch between apps, swap and resize windows - all without lifting a finger from the home-row. I spent almost a decade li", "context": "die-hard vimmer who uses vim bindings system-wide", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "IntelliJ", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 777436321, "item_id": 48589770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48589770", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Evil-mode in Emacs feels like a built-in feature.", "excerpt": "I'm a die-hard vimmer. I use vim-motions everywhere - they permeate my editors/IDEs, browsers, terminal, I use them system wide (e.g. to change volume or control media or my WM). One day I woke up with the realization of the fundamental truth - Emacs simply vims better. Much better than even Neovim. I just had to master Vim and grok some Lisp to arrive to that conclusion. People fighting Vim vs. Emacs are materially ", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim emulation in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}]}, {"text": " and is stable enough for full-time use.", "cites": [{"id": 800495600, "item_id": 50030975, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50030975", "by": "precompute", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs", "excerpt": "You should try using evil again. I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs (the other 9% is in the terminal). It's very stable and IMO more full-featured than plain vim. In time you'll pick up some native emacs shortcuts to simplify your life but you'll still have modal editing everywhere. Best of both worlds.", "context": "", "use_case": "modal editing in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "I tried to move my notes out of Emacs. I failed. Again"}, {"id": 804379443, "item_id": 50273715, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273715", "by": "vr46", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again", "excerpt": "About two or three months ago I ditched Neovim as all the complicated modern crap wasn't working for me, and instead of reverting to Vim, I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again. I did ask GPT to port over my key commands and shortcuts, which it did, and things are great again!", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}, {"text": " Commenters raised no complaints; it suits Vim users moving to Emacs, often via Doom.", "cites": [{"id": 732559793, "item_id": 45784987, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784987", "by": "auslegung", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "using evil-mode was _very_ helpful in making the switch easier so I recommend that", "excerpt": "I suggest trying out Doom and maybe some other configs to see what's available, and if you want to roll your own you can choose the things you like most from them. I came to emacs from [n]vim and using evil-mode was _very_ helpful in making the switch easier so I recommend that", "context": "came to Emacs from vim", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "Vim", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 804379443, "item_id": 50273715, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273715", "by": "vr46", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again", "excerpt": "About two or three months ago I ditched Neovim as all the complicated modern crap wasn't working for me, and instead of reverting to Vim, I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again. I did ask GPT to port over my key commands and shortcuts, which it did, and things are great again!", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Vim emulation", "summary": "Called the best Vim-emulation layer, one that feels like a built-in feature of Emacs.", "quotes": [{"id": 804666512, "item_id": 50291657, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50291657", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Evil-mode in Emacs is just wonderful. It's the best vim-emulation layer", "excerpt": "> Vim implementation quality varies wildly from environment to environment is extremely frustrating to me. I know exactly what you're talking about. I am a die-hard vimmer and used vim plugins in every editor/IDE/browser/shell/multiplexer/WM/etc. I use vim bindings system-wide. I control my music, switch between apps, swap and resize windows - all without lifting a finger from the home-row. I spent almost a decade li", "context": "die-hard vimmer who uses vim bindings system-wide", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "IntelliJ", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 777436321, "item_id": 48589770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48589770", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Evil-mode in Emacs feels like a built-in feature.", "excerpt": "I'm a die-hard vimmer. I use vim-motions everywhere - they permeate my editors/IDEs, browsers, terminal, I use them system wide (e.g. to change volume or control media or my WM). One day I woke up with the realization of the fundamental truth - Emacs simply vims better. Much better than even Neovim. I just had to master Vim and grok some Lisp to arrive to that conclusion. People fighting Vim vs. Emacs are materially ", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim emulation in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 800495600, "item_id": 50030975, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50030975", "by": "precompute", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs", "excerpt": "You should try using evil again. I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs (the other 9% is in the terminal). It's very stable and IMO more full-featured than plain vim. In time you'll pick up some native emacs shortcuts to simplify your life but you'll still have modal editing everywhere. Best of both worlds.", "context": "", "use_case": "modal editing in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "I tried to move my notes out of Emacs. I failed. Again"}]}, {"label": "Best of both", "summary": "Lets users keep Vim bindings while getting Emacs features and shortcuts.", "quotes": [{"id": 775985217, "item_id": 48499076, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48499076", "by": "redbluething", "date": "2026-06-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Emacs with Evil-mode \u2013 the best of both worlds!", "excerpt": "\"Jokes on you, Lenny. I use Emacs with Evil-mode \u2013 the best of both worlds!\" <fistbump>", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Appearances in Pop Culture"}, {"id": 800495600, "item_id": 50030975, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50030975", "by": "precompute", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs", "excerpt": "You should try using evil again. I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs (the other 9% is in the terminal). It's very stable and IMO more full-featured than plain vim. In time you'll pick up some native emacs shortcuts to simplify your life but you'll still have modal editing everywhere. Best of both worlds.", "context": "", "use_case": "modal editing in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "I tried to move my notes out of Emacs. I failed. Again"}, {"id": 804497777, "item_id": 50281111, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281111", "by": "Jtsummers", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can always use evil-mode if I want the vim bindings", "excerpt": "The only expression I have gotten was something like \"Why not vim?\" and my response was \"Because emacs is better, and I can always use evil-mode if I want the vim bindings\". Then it gets installed (by me or an admin) and I use it. I can't imagine anyone actually caring, that's pretty petty of them, or lazy based on your other comment about it being too much work for sysadmins.", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim bindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}, {"label": "Stability", "summary": "Described as very stable, including as a refuge from a fragile Neovim setup.", "quotes": [{"id": 800495600, "item_id": 50030975, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50030975", "by": "precompute", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs", "excerpt": "You should try using evil again. I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs (the other 9% is in the terminal). It's very stable and IMO more full-featured than plain vim. In time you'll pick up some native emacs shortcuts to simplify your life but you'll still have modal editing everywhere. Best of both worlds.", "context": "", "use_case": "modal editing in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "I tried to move my notes out of Emacs. I failed. Again"}, {"id": 804379443, "item_id": 50273715, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273715", "by": "vr46", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again", "excerpt": "About two or three months ago I ditched Neovim as all the complicated modern crap wasn't working for me, and instead of reverting to Vim, I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again. I did ask GPT to port over my key commands and shortcuts, which it did, and things are great again!", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}, {"label": "Easier switching", "summary": "Helps Vim users make the move to Emacs.", "quotes": [{"id": 732559793, "item_id": 45784987, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784987", "by": "auslegung", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "using evil-mode was _very_ helpful in making the switch easier so I recommend that", "excerpt": "I suggest trying out Doom and maybe some other configs to see what's available, and if you want to roll your own you can choose the things you like most from them. I came to emacs from [n]vim and using evil-mode was _very_ helpful in making the switch easier so I recommend that", "context": "came to Emacs from vim", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "Vim", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 804379443, "item_id": 50273715, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273715", "by": "vr46", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again", "excerpt": "About two or three months ago I ditched Neovim as all the complicated modern crap wasn't working for me, and instead of reverting to Vim, I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again. I did ask GPT to port over my key commands and shortcuts, which it did, and things are great again!", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}, {"label": "Org mode", "summary": "Works with Org mode for quick Vim-style navigation and editing of documents.", "quotes": [{"id": 739233969, "item_id": 46202123, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46202123", "by": "dotancohen", "date": "2025-12-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Org mode with Evil, to get VIM keybindings.", "excerpt": "This looks great. Almost as good as Emacs Org mode. I use Org mode with Evil, to get VIM keybindings. This way I can quickly navigate and edit the document, not just append to the end of it. And of course, Emacs is completely local. I suppose there is supposed to be a collaborative element that Emacs won't provide. In my experience people in meetings already have workflows and are seldom interested in using the tool ", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I built a system for active note-taking in regular meetings like 1-1s"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "iLemming", "context": "die-hard vimmer who uses vim bindings system-wide", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50291657", "date": "2026-10-29"}, {"by": "auslegung", "context": "came to Emacs from vim", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784987", "date": "2025-11-01"}], "tags": ["for Vim users", "for Doom Emacs", "for Org mode users"], "use_cases": ["vim keybindings in emacs", "vim bindings in emacs", "modal editing in emacs", "vim emulation in emacs"], "compared": [{"slug": "vim", "name": "Vim", "co": 5, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "emacs", "name": "Emacs", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "intellij-idea", "name": "IntelliJ IDEA", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "doom-emacs", "name": "Doom Emacs", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "neovim", "name": "Neovim", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273171", "title": "Emacs Turns 50", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49998350", "title": "I tried to move my notes out of Emacs. I failed. Again", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48584135", "title": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48474274", "title": "Emacs Appearances in Pop Culture", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46198430", "title": "Show HN: I built a system for active note-taking in regular meetings like 1-1s", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45783376", "title": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 4}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804666512, "item_id": 50291657, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50291657", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Evil-mode in Emacs is just wonderful. It's the best vim-emulation layer", "excerpt": "> Vim implementation quality varies wildly from environment to environment is extremely frustrating to me. I know exactly what you're talking about. I am a die-hard vimmer and used vim plugins in every editor/IDE/browser/shell/multiplexer/WM/etc. I use vim bindings system-wide. I control my music, switch between apps, swap and resize windows - all without lifting a finger from the home-row. I spent almost a decade li", "context": "die-hard vimmer who uses vim bindings system-wide", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "IntelliJ", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 804497777, "item_id": 50281111, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281111", "by": "Jtsummers", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can always use evil-mode if I want the vim bindings", "excerpt": "The only expression I have gotten was something like \"Why not vim?\" and my response was \"Because emacs is better, and I can always use evil-mode if I want the vim bindings\". Then it gets installed (by me or an admin) and I use it. I can't imagine anyone actually caring, that's pretty petty of them, or lazy based on your other comment about it being too much work for sysadmins.", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim bindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 804379443, "item_id": 50273715, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273715", "by": "vr46", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again", "excerpt": "About two or three months ago I ditched Neovim as all the complicated modern crap wasn't working for me, and instead of reverting to Vim, I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again. I did ask GPT to port over my key commands and shortcuts, which it did, and things are great again!", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 800495600, "item_id": 50030975, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50030975", "by": "precompute", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs", "excerpt": "You should try using evil again. I use it full-time and 90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs (the other 9% is in the terminal). It's very stable and IMO more full-featured than plain vim. In time you'll pick up some native emacs shortcuts to simplify your life but you'll still have modal editing everywhere. Best of both worlds.", "context": "", "use_case": "modal editing in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "I tried to move my notes out of Emacs. I failed. Again"}, {"id": 777436321, "item_id": 48589770, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48589770", "by": "iLemming", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Evil-mode in Emacs feels like a built-in feature.", "excerpt": "I'm a die-hard vimmer. I use vim-motions everywhere - they permeate my editors/IDEs, browsers, terminal, I use them system wide (e.g. to change volume or control media or my WM). One day I woke up with the realization of the fundamental truth - Emacs simply vims better. Much better than even Neovim. I just had to master Vim and grok some Lisp to arrive to that conclusion. People fighting Vim vs. Emacs are materially ", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim emulation in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 775985217, "item_id": 48499076, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48499076", "by": "redbluething", "date": "2026-06-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Emacs with Evil-mode \u2013 the best of both worlds!", "excerpt": "\"Jokes on you, Lenny. I use Emacs with Evil-mode \u2013 the best of both worlds!\" <fistbump>", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Appearances in Pop Culture"}, {"id": 739233969, "item_id": 46202123, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46202123", "by": "dotancohen", "date": "2025-12-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Org mode with Evil, to get VIM keybindings.", "excerpt": "This looks great. Almost as good as Emacs Org mode. I use Org mode with Evil, to get VIM keybindings. This way I can quickly navigate and edit the document, not just append to the end of it. And of course, Emacs is completely local. I suppose there is supposed to be a collaborative element that Emacs won't provide. In my experience people in meetings already have workflows and are seldom interested in using the tool ", "context": "", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I built a system for active note-taking in regular meetings like 1-1s"}, {"id": 732559793, "item_id": 45784987, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784987", "by": "auslegung", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "using evil-mode was _very_ helpful in making the switch easier so I recommend that", "excerpt": "I suggest trying out Doom and maybe some other configs to see what's available, and if you want to roll your own you can choose the things you like most from them. I came to emacs from [n]vim and using evil-mode was _very_ helpful in making the switch easier so I recommend that", "context": "came to Emacs from vim", "use_case": "Vim keybindings in Emacs", "switched_from": "Vim", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}]}