Doom Emacs
An opinionated Emacs configuration framework with Vim keybindings, preconfigured modules and fast startup.
HN commenters like Doom Emacs as a quick way to get sane defaults and Vim keybindings in Emacs,123 and people switching from Neovim describe it as a stable setup that mostly just works.456 The most common caveat is that newcomers should start with vanilla Emacs first,789 because Doom is far removed from it and hides how things work.1011
Why people recommend it
Sane defaults · 3
Gives a better out-of-the-box Emacs without hundreds of lines of your own config.
“Highly recommend just setting up "Doom Emacs" as a quick way of configuring emacs w/ evil keybindings plus other niceties.”
“Or some other distro like Doom Emacs or Spacemacs or stuff like that, if they are after a better out of the box experience.”
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“distros like doom/space would be good for avoiding that initial shock/disappointment.”
Vim keybindings · 3
Evil-mode setup makes moving from Vim or Neovim easier.
“I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again”
“Highly recommend just setting up "Doom Emacs" as a quick way of configuring emacs w/ evil keybindings plus other niceties.”
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“this could finally be a stable platform/ide for once”
Stability · 3
Former Neovim users find it stable and say updates mostly just work.
“I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again”
“I'm on doom emacs, update once in a while, and everything mostly just works”
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“this could finally be a stable platform/ide for once”
Well-chosen config · 2
One user who built a custom config ended up with something similar to Doom and switched to it.
“ended up getting something similar to Doom Emacs. So, I just switched to use Doom :)”
“Doom Emacs and Spacemacs are both very good”
Workflow power · 2
Used for org-mode note-taking and as a multi-project AI agent workflow.
“I use agent-shell with Projectile on Doom Emacs as my main workflow these days”
“I found it to be totally workable, initially, via doom-emacs.”
Caveats and dissent
Hides internals · 3
Some advise learning vanilla Emacs first so you understand what is happening and can fix it.
“Don't use doom etc, just standard emacs, otherwise you won't have any understanding of what is happening and how to fix it.”
“maybe try spacemacs or doom to see if they offer advantages for your workflow”
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“So I would not recommend those to new users”
Far from vanilla · 2
It feels far removed from standard Emacs, though others say that is not a problem.
“Things like Doom Emacs, and Spacemacs try to solve that problem, but both feel far removed from vanilla emacs.”
“Doom Emacs and Spacemacs are both very good”
Display quirks · 3
Users had to fix rendering and color scheme issues, such as switching to pgtk for Wayland.
“I have been using an unstraigtened version of Doom Emacs”
“I use a doom emacs overlay that uses pgtk so it works flawlessly on wayland”
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“I'm on doom emacs, update once in a while, and everything mostly just works”
More than needed · 1
One user moved back to Neovim after realizing they just wanted a good text editor.
“I just switched from Doom Emacs to Neovim”
Often compared with
3 moved from Neovim to Doom Emacs
1 moved from Doom Emacs to Neovim
1 moved from Vim to Doom EmacsEmacs Bedrock3 comments mention bothminimal-emacs.d1 comment mention both
1 moved from Doom Emacs to minimal-emacs.d
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Ask HN: Where to begin with "modern" Emacs? 7 mentions
- Even More Batteries Included with Emacs 4 mentions
- Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving 3 mentions
- Emacs 31: An unofficial guide to Markdown-ts-mode 2 mentions
- Emacs Turns 50 1 mention
- I tried to move my notes out of Emacs. I failed. Again 1 mention
Data: doom-emacs.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 25
“I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again”
“Highly recommend just setting up "Doom Emacs" as a quick way of configuring emacs w/ evil keybindings plus other niceties.”
“just switched to doom emacs this month, absolutely loving it tbh”
“I used DoomEmacs most recently”
“I use agent-shell with Projectile on Doom Emacs as my main workflow these days”
“I have been using an unstraigtened version of Doom Emacs”
“Doom Emacs and Spacemacs are both very good”
“ended up getting something similar to Doom Emacs. So, I just switched to use Doom :)”
“Things like Doom Emacs, and Spacemacs try to solve that problem, but both feel far removed from vanilla emacs.”
“Or some other distro like Doom Emacs or Spacemacs or stuff like that, if they are after a better out of the box experience.”
“I agree with the assessment of doom emacs vs neovim.”
“I just switched from Doom Emacs to Neovim”
“I'm on doom emacs, update once in a while, and everything mostly just works”
“these days I'm a Doom Emacs user”
“I use a doom emacs overlay that uses pgtk so it works flawlessly on wayland”
“this could finally be a stable platform/ide for once”
“I love these packages (like this, Spacemacs, Doom, etc.)”
“distros like doom/space would be good for avoiding that initial shock/disappointment.”
“I found it to be totally workable, initially, via doom-emacs.”
“I suggest trying out Doom and maybe some other configs to see what's available”
“I used Doom for a couple months.”
“Don't use doom etc, just standard emacs, otherwise you won't have any understanding of what is happening and how to fix it.”
“maybe try spacemacs or doom to see if they offer advantages for your workflow”
“It's similar to doom, in that it makes some decisions for you”
“So I would not recommend those to new users”