# AWS-LC

10 Hacker News commenters recommended AWS-LC and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an OpenSSL-API alternative for low-level cryptography, often alongside BoringSSL. Critics note it is awkward to use outside C, C++ and Rust.

## Why people recommend it

- Replacement for OpenSSL API (2 comments): "People who need cryptography but on the openssl API should be using aws-lc" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46628911)) "looks very promising replacement for OpenSSL these days" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50210279))
- Among best BoringSSL-family libraries (2 comments): "BoringSSL and AWS-LC are the best we have." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47772214)) "but AWS-LC is clearly the path forward for them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46626141))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [BLAKE3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blake3.md): 16 recommend
- [libsodium](https://hackerapproved.com/p/libsodium.md): 10 recommend
- [xxhash](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xxhash.md): 9 recommend
- [pyca/cryptography](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pyca-cryptography.md): 8 recommend
- [BoringSSL](https://hackerapproved.com/p/boringssl.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "AWS-LC", https://hackerapproved.com/p/aws-lc/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).