The best configuration languages, according to hackers
9 configuration languages were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 2 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The two most recommended configuration languages with the badge. Each figure is 2 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Works with existing formats and tools
People recommend CUE for unifying data and schemas in configs while staying declarative rather than Turing-complete. Critics say it is hard to learn and that its tooling and docs are still immature.
Generates Kubernetes configuration
People recommend Jsonnet for generating static configuration from dynamic input, with pure execution and no arbitrary I/O. Some find its developer experience poor.
All 9 configuration languages, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CUE | 29 | 7 | 81% | 12 | — | Approved |
| 2 | TOML | 19 | 13 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| 3 | Jsonnet | 12 | 3 | 80% | 5 | — | Approved |
| 4 | HCL | 10 | 15 | 40% | 6 | — | — |
| 5 | Dhall | 9 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| 6 | Nickel configuration language | 8 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| 7 | KDL | 7 | 1 | 88% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 8 | Pkl by Apple | 5 | 1 | 83% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 8 | MAML | 5 | 4 | 56% | 3 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same configuration language in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to configuration languages that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
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