{"slug": "vertico", "name": "Vertico", "category": "editors", "category_name": "Editors and IDEs", "description": "Minimalistic vertical completion UI for the Emacs minibuffer.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 5, "warners": 0, "score": 4.503, "rising": 1.02, "first": "2025-11-01", "latest": "2026-10-28", "why": "Recommended as a core piece of the modern Emacs completion stack, used alongside Orderless, Consult, Marginalia and Embark, and as a replacement for Helm.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": ["Composable stack", "Helm replacement"], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I switched to Eglot/Corfu/Vertico/Tempel. I much prefer the new wave.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/minad/vertico", "official_url": "https://github.com/minad/vertico", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Vertico"], "verdict": [{"text": "Recommended as a core piece of the modern Emacs completion stack, used alongside Orderless, Consult, Marginalia and Embark,", "cites": [{"id": 732548642, "item_id": 45784290, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784290", "by": "foobarqux", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now", "excerpt": "Don't use doom etc, just standard emacs, otherwise you won't have any understanding of what is happening and how to fix it. Here's a list of what I think is important, roughly more important to less: - corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now - magit (maybe also see also the \"casual\" the transient front end for other modes) - avy - (fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p) ; 'Y' or 'N' inste", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 732540580, "item_id": 45783786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45783786", "by": "mijoharas", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is a composition of consult, orderless, vertico, and embark.", "excerpt": "I've been using emacs for a decade by now. I'd look into spacemacs (what I use). It's similar to doom, in that it makes some decisions for you, but you can very much have a customized experience. I for instance have a lot of \"stock\" sections, and other things that are very customized that I've made myself. Look into the \"layers\" (sets of packages that work together). I'd particularly recommend checking out the comple", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 804385507, "item_id": 50274094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274094", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult)", "excerpt": "About 10+ years ago I found a guide on Helm [0] and a guide on Org-mode [1] when I was just getting into Emacs. This helped me move on from using Spacemacs to making my own configuration. I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult), but I've stuck with Org-mode since then. I sometimes venture out to other apps (like Joplin, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc), but Org-mode just works best for ", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 804413522, "item_id": 50275845, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275845", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Vertico/Counsel/Orderless is very nice", "excerpt": "This is a good point, but I do want to mention that I feel like in the past 5 years we've had lots of extremely popular packages that hook into Emacs internals instead of rolling out their own architecture. For example, corfu [0] versus company [1]. Company works with capf, but you can also write your own backends for it (specific to company). Corfu also works with capf, but all backends are capf functions instead of", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "Emacs minibuffer completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}, {"text": " and as a replacement for Helm.", "cites": [{"id": 804437154, "item_id": 50277322, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277322", "by": "seanw444", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Eglot/Corfu/Vertico/Tempel. I much prefer the new wave.", "excerpt": "I was using Helm, lsp-mode, yasnippet, and the like for a long time. I switched to Eglot/Corfu/Vertico/Tempel. I much prefer the new wave.", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs minibuffer completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 804385507, "item_id": 50274094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274094", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult)", "excerpt": "About 10+ years ago I found a guide on Helm [0] and a guide on Org-mode [1] when I was just getting into Emacs. This helped me move on from using Spacemacs to making my own configuration. I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult), but I've stuck with Org-mode since then. I sometimes venture out to other apps (like Joplin, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc), but Org-mode just works best for ", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}, {"text": " No complaints came up in these mentions;", "cites": [{"id": 777385408, "item_id": 48586588, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48586588", "by": "cmrdporcupine", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Vertico feels like a must-have to me these days.", "excerpt": "Vertico feels like a must-have to me these days. I also like to have treemacs installed. Apart from that, I don't have a lot I insist on, and my used emacs package space keeps shrinking. That said lately I use lem more than I do GNU emacs.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 732548642, "item_id": 45784290, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784290", "by": "foobarqux", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now", "excerpt": "Don't use doom etc, just standard emacs, otherwise you won't have any understanding of what is happening and how to fix it. Here's a list of what I think is important, roughly more important to less: - corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now - magit (maybe also see also the \"casual\" the transient front end for other modes) - avy - (fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p) ; 'Y' or 'N' inste", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}]}, {"text": " it suits Emacs users building their own configuration or using Spacemacs layers.", "cites": [{"id": 732548642, "item_id": 45784290, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784290", "by": "foobarqux", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now", "excerpt": "Don't use doom etc, just standard emacs, otherwise you won't have any understanding of what is happening and how to fix it. Here's a list of what I think is important, roughly more important to less: - corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now - magit (maybe also see also the \"casual\" the transient front end for other modes) - avy - (fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p) ; 'Y' or 'N' inste", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 732540580, "item_id": 45783786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45783786", "by": "mijoharas", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is a composition of consult, orderless, vertico, and embark.", "excerpt": "I've been using emacs for a decade by now. I'd look into spacemacs (what I use). It's similar to doom, in that it makes some decisions for you, but you can very much have a customized experience. I for instance have a lot of \"stock\" sections, and other things that are very customized that I've made myself. Look into the \"layers\" (sets of packages that work together). I'd particularly recommend checking out the comple", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 804385507, "item_id": 50274094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274094", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult)", "excerpt": "About 10+ years ago I found a guide on Helm [0] and a guide on Org-mode [1] when I was just getting into Emacs. This helped me move on from using Spacemacs to making my own configuration. I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult), but I've stuck with Org-mode since then. I sometimes venture out to other apps (like Joplin, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc), but Org-mode just works best for ", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Composable stack", "summary": "Pairs with Orderless, Consult, Marginalia and Embark in what one commenter calls the standard completion stack.", "quotes": [{"id": 732548642, "item_id": 45784290, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784290", "by": "foobarqux", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now", "excerpt": "Don't use doom etc, just standard emacs, otherwise you won't have any understanding of what is happening and how to fix it. Here's a list of what I think is important, roughly more important to less: - corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now - magit (maybe also see also the \"casual\" the transient front end for other modes) - avy - (fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p) ; 'Y' or 'N' inste", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 732540580, "item_id": 45783786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45783786", "by": "mijoharas", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is a composition of consult, orderless, vertico, and embark.", "excerpt": "I've been using emacs for a decade by now. I'd look into spacemacs (what I use). It's similar to doom, in that it makes some decisions for you, but you can very much have a customized experience. I for instance have a lot of \"stock\" sections, and other things that are very customized that I've made myself. Look into the \"layers\" (sets of packages that work together). I'd particularly recommend checking out the comple", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 804385507, "item_id": 50274094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274094", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult)", "excerpt": "About 10+ years ago I found a guide on Helm [0] and a guide on Org-mode [1] when I was just getting into Emacs. This helped me move on from using Spacemacs to making my own configuration. I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult), but I've stuck with Org-mode since then. I sometimes venture out to other apps (like Joplin, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc), but Org-mode just works best for ", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}, {"label": "Helm replacement", "summary": "Long-time Helm users switched to Vertico and prefer the newer packages.", "quotes": [{"id": 804437154, "item_id": 50277322, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277322", "by": "seanw444", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Eglot/Corfu/Vertico/Tempel. I much prefer the new wave.", "excerpt": "I was using Helm, lsp-mode, yasnippet, and the like for a long time. I switched to Eglot/Corfu/Vertico/Tempel. I much prefer the new wave.", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs minibuffer completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 804385507, "item_id": 50274094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274094", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult)", "excerpt": "About 10+ years ago I found a guide on Helm [0] and a guide on Org-mode [1] when I was just getting into Emacs. This helped me move on from using Spacemacs to making my own configuration. I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult), but I've stuck with Org-mode since then. I sometimes venture out to other apps (like Joplin, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc), but Org-mode just works best for ", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}, {"label": "Must-have", "summary": "One commenter considers it essential even as their package list shrinks.", "quotes": [{"id": 777385408, "item_id": 48586588, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48586588", "by": "cmrdporcupine", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Vertico feels like a must-have to me these days.", "excerpt": "Vertico feels like a must-have to me these days. I also like to have treemacs installed. Apart from that, I don't have a lot I insist on, and my used emacs package space keeps shrinking. That said lately I use lem more than I do GNU emacs.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}]}, {"label": "Emacs-native design", "summary": "Cited as an example of packages that hook into Emacs internals instead of building their own architecture.", "quotes": [{"id": 804413522, "item_id": 50275845, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275845", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Vertico/Counsel/Orderless is very nice", "excerpt": "This is a good point, but I do want to mention that I feel like in the past 5 years we've had lots of extremely popular packages that hook into Emacs internals instead of rolling out their own architecture. For example, corfu [0] versus company [1]. Company works with capf, but you can also write your own backends for it (specific to company). Corfu also works with capf, but all backends are capf functions instead of", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "Emacs minibuffer completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "cyrialize", "context": "Emacs user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275845", "date": "2026-10-28"}, {"by": "cmrdporcupine", "context": "Emacs user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48586588", "date": "2026-06-18"}], "tags": ["for Emacs users", "for Helm switchers", "for Spacemacs users"], "use_cases": ["emacs completion", "emacs minibuffer completion"], "compared": [{"slug": "helm", "name": "Helm", "co": 5, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "corfu", "name": "corfu", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "orderless", "name": "Orderless", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ivy", "name": "Ivy", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "spacemacs", "name": "Spacemacs", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "consult", "name": "Consult", "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=45783376", "title": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48584135", "title": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804437154, "item_id": 50277322, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277322", "by": "seanw444", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Eglot/Corfu/Vertico/Tempel. I much prefer the new wave.", "excerpt": "I was using Helm, lsp-mode, yasnippet, and the like for a long time. I switched to Eglot/Corfu/Vertico/Tempel. I much prefer the new wave.", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs minibuffer completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 804413522, "item_id": 50275845, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275845", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Vertico/Counsel/Orderless is very nice", "excerpt": "This is a good point, but I do want to mention that I feel like in the past 5 years we've had lots of extremely popular packages that hook into Emacs internals instead of rolling out their own architecture. For example, corfu [0] versus company [1]. Company works with capf, but you can also write your own backends for it (specific to company). Corfu also works with capf, but all backends are capf functions instead of", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "Emacs minibuffer completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 804385507, "item_id": 50274094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274094", "by": "cyrialize", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult)", "excerpt": "About 10+ years ago I found a guide on Helm [0] and a guide on Org-mode [1] when I was just getting into Emacs. This helped me move on from using Spacemacs to making my own configuration. I no longer use Helm (I'm doing Vertico/Orderless/Consult), but I've stuck with Org-mode since then. I sometimes venture out to other apps (like Joplin, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc), but Org-mode just works best for ", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "Helm", "story": "Emacs Turns 50"}, {"id": 777385408, "item_id": 48586588, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48586588", "by": "cmrdporcupine", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Vertico feels like a must-have to me these days.", "excerpt": "Vertico feels like a must-have to me these days. I also like to have treemacs installed. Apart from that, I don't have a lot I insist on, and my used emacs package space keeps shrinking. That said lately I use lem more than I do GNU emacs.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 732548642, "item_id": 45784290, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784290", "by": "foobarqux", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now", "excerpt": "Don't use doom etc, just standard emacs, otherwise you won't have any understanding of what is happening and how to fix it. Here's a list of what I think is important, roughly more important to less: - corfu+marginalia+vertico+embark+orderless is the standard completion stack now - magit (maybe also see also the \"casual\" the transient front end for other modes) - avy - (fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p) ; 'Y' or 'N' inste", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}, {"id": 732540580, "item_id": 45783786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45783786", "by": "mijoharas", "date": "2025-11-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is a composition of consult, orderless, vertico, and embark.", "excerpt": "I've been using emacs for a decade by now. I'd look into spacemacs (what I use). It's similar to doom, in that it makes some decisions for you, but you can very much have a customized experience. I for instance have a lot of \"stock\" sections, and other things that are very customized that I've made myself. Look into the \"layers\" (sets of packages that work together). I'd particularly recommend checking out the comple", "context": "", "use_case": "Emacs completion", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where to begin with \"modern\" Emacs?"}]}