asdf version manager
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 7 version managers by recommenders
Free command-line tool that pins language versions per project across many languages. Caveat: a little weird to start.
Free command-line tool that pins language versions per project across many languages. Caveat: a little weird to start.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 17
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 17 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Pins versions per project
“rbenv/asdf pin files make it hard to accidentally run the wrong Ruby version”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Returning to Rails in 2026” “I highly recommend using a .tool-versions file (if you use asdf or mise)”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Jeffgeerling.com has been Migrated to Hugo” Replaces brew and jenv for versions
“I switched from brew to https://asdf-vm.com/ for this very reason.”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “Homebrew 6.0.0” “Ever since I found `asdf`, I threw away jenv”
Comment from 28 Nov 2025 in “Installing Java in 2025, and Version Managers” Works across many languages
“Cross-language tools such as mise or asdf also seem to work ok.”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Can Bundler Be as Fast as Uv?” “`asdf` or `mise` seem superior to `devcontainer`s”
Comment from 8 Mar 2026 in “A Decade of Docker Containers”
Other version managers people recommend
The four most recommended other version managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 7 version managers, rankedWhat people said
17 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“they are a separate installation step you need to do on CI or your machine to work with the project”
“That's the beauty of asdf and then mise”
“asdf is a little weird to start”
“That actually seems great !”
“I switched from brew to https://asdf-vm.com/ for this very reason.”
“Asdf plugins were easy, but insecure”
“it works as far as it goes”
“rbenv/asdf pin files make it hard to accidentally run the wrong Ruby version”
“`asdf` or `mise` seem superior to `devcontainer`s”
“I just install my dependencies with good old fashioned version managers (asdf) and I develop the project”
“I highly recommend using a .tool-versions file (if you use asdf or mise)”
“Each of the version managers I've used has functioned as advertised”
“Cross-language tools such as mise or asdf also seem to work ok.”
“definitely an improvement on mere ASDF/QL”
“Descriptive, funny, and easy to type!”
“Ever since I found `asdf`, I threw away jenv”
“It too has also changed its design recently to become user-hostile”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.