Emacs
Extensible, programmable text editor built around Emacs Lisp, part of the GNU project.
HN commenters praise its deep customizability through Elisp123, packages like Magit, Org mode and dired456, and solid Vim emulation via evil-mode.789 The most common caveats are poor defaults and a steeper learning curve than editors like VS Code1011, plus modifier-key controls that put off some modal-editing fans.12
Why people recommend it
Customizability · 3
Users shape the editor to their own workflow through Elisp, calling the customizability unrivalled.
“I am in fact a long-standing near-vanilla emacs user”
“I use an editor-construction kit named "Emacs" to build my own Editor, and IDE, and git porcelain, and organizer, and wiki.”
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“In Emacs I use different faces for comments, tables in literate sections, and code blocks.”
AI agent workflows · 3
Several users drive coding agents from inside Emacs and have AI write their Elisp customizations.
“Emacs turned out to be the ultimate material for AI. I no longer write my own Emacs functions.”
“Emacs makes for excellent Agent harness.”
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“first class integration into your text editor (no context switch)”
Built-in packages · 3
Magit, Org mode, dired and consult are repeatedly singled out as standout tools.
“Did not realize that everything I was building in my vim configs to make it better was already default in emacs”
“the moment agents became a viable way to develop code I switched back into emacs”
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“I love emacs and have been using it daily for about 5 years now.”
Vim emulation · 3
Vim users say evil-mode gives them modal editing that works better than other Vim implementations.
“Emacs, as it turns out, vims much better than any other concrete vim implementation.”
“Because emacs is better, and I can always use evil-mode if I want the vim bindings”
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“90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs”
Longevity · 3
Long-time users value that it has stayed stable and actively maintained for decades.
“Other editors have come and gone, Emacs stayed.”
“I fully switched from vi to emacs in 1992 and been using it heavily every day since then. So good.”
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“I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again”
All-in-one tool · 3
Some users handle email, writing, planning and coding all inside Emacs.
“You’re the best thing that happened in the computing world.”
“On linux I read my mail in emacs, and use notmuch for searching/indexing. It's amazing.”
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“I like and use Emacs, but it is showing its age.”
Caveats and dissent
Learning curve · 2
It takes more effort to become productive than VS Code, and the defaults are described as bad.
“I use emacs daily (with vim keybindings of course)”
“I like and use Emacs, but it is showing its age.”
Keyboard controls · 1
Some modal-editing fans bounced off its modifier-key control scheme.
“every time I see the Emacs control scheme, I wince and I'm reminded why I don't use it”
Terminal TUIs · 1
One user had repeated issues running TUI agent tools inside vterm.
“I love emacs. I used emacs for 20 years.”
Upgrade issues · 2
Users report a persistent package warning after building 31.1 and memory leaks on macOS that 31.1 fixed.
“I build Emacs 31.1 on Slackware 15.0 and it has an odd issue.”
“I highly recommend upgrading to 31.1 ASAP since several memory leaks have been fixed”
Org lock-in · 1
Org files are tied to Emacs, which creates friction when collaborating with users of other editors.
“I love Emacs, but I can't (ethically and pragmatically) force any editor/IDE on anyone.”
Dated terminology · 1
Users say terms like Meta key and window feel outdated.
“I use Emacs daily, and I (mostly) like it.”
Often compared with
5 moved from Vim to Emacs
4 moved from Emacs to Vim
2 moved from Neovim to Emacs
3 moved from Emacs to Neovim
2 moved from Visual Studio Code to Emacs
1 moved from Emacs to Visual Studio Code
2 moved from Emacs to Lem
1 moved from Emacs to Claude Code
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Emacs Turns 50 21 mentions
- Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving 18 mentions
- Emacs, how it all started (for me) 11 mentions
- Ask HN: Where to begin with "modern" Emacs? 10 mentions
- Even More Batteries Included with Emacs 6 mentions
- Emacs 31: An unofficial guide to Markdown-ts-mode 5 mentions
Also written as GNU Emacs. Data: 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 45
“It works great so far. I can just ask it to update its layout whenever i think something better is possible. I wont be going back”
“after almost 20 years of using it to write all sorts of functionality from big to small things”
“otherwise, I might have never convinced myself to ever give Emacs a try.”
“I fully switched from vi to emacs in 1992 and been using it heavily every day since then. So good.”
“Emacs, as it turns out, vims much better than any other concrete vim implementation.”
“you can't just ignore forty years of package development”
“shortly after switch to GNU Emacs when it was first released in 1985”
“Decades later it feels perhaps more relevant than it did the then.”
“Blaming Emacs for that is blaming the UI for the engine.”
“You’re the best thing that happened in the computing world.”
“Because emacs is better, and I can always use evil-mode if I want the vim bindings”
“I'm reading this thread in Emacs.”
“the sheer amount of person-years that have gone into making emacs and elisp a conjoined system makes it a pleasure to use and iterate on”
“If you're feeling curious at trying Emacs out for the first time”
“I grokked display-buffer-alist and never had any problems since.”
“And I used Emacs (on Linux) this morning.”
“I use emacs everyday.”
“Emacs has served me well for more than a decade.”
“I love emacs and have been using it daily for about 5 years now.”
“Did not realize that everything I was building in my vim configs to make it better was already default in emacs”
“Other editors have come and gone, Emacs stayed.”
“I switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again”
“the moment agents became a viable way to develop code I switched back into emacs”
“When I need to manipulate files in any quantity, I use Emacs and its dired-mode.”
“as malleable as Emacs”
“I have a key emitting “forall” which Emacs then displays as ∀.”
“In Emacs I use different faces for comments, tables in literate sections, and code blocks.”
“That's why I use telega.el in Emacs.”
“used Emacs for almost two decades now”
“On linux I read my mail in emacs, and use notmuch for searching/indexing. It's amazing.”
“Not sure exactly, but probably either Emacs or Bash.”
“There are also alternatives such as VSCodium, Neovim, or Emacs.”
“I use Common Lisp software (besides Emacs) written by human”
“I've used Emacs and org-mode for about half a decade now and I find it inescapable.”
“Emacs is definitely more full-featured than plain vim.”
“90% of my non-web-browsing work is in Emacs”
“every time I see the Emacs control scheme, I wince and I'm reminded why I don't use it”
“I've been using Emacs for the past 20+ years at this point”
“As a long-time Emacs user”
“make emacs and org-mode as easy for him as WordPress is for you”
“I use an editor-construction kit named "Emacs" to build my own Editor, and IDE, and git porcelain, and organizer, and wiki.”
“I use emacs daily (with vim keybindings of course)”
“I am in fact a long-standing near-vanilla emacs user”
“I love Emacs w/evil mode.”
“I like and use Emacs, but it is showing its age.”