# BAML

16 Hacker News commenters recommended BAML and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend BAML for fast structured LLM outputs and quick prompt iteration. The main caveat is that its external DSL adds complexity some find unnecessary.

## Why people recommend it

- Works well in practice (3 comments): "that workaround we've found works quite well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46346553)) "that worked super well for me multiple times" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47494017)) "been using it in production" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47492799))
- Good fit for agents and SDKs (3 comments): "In most places a proper SDK like BAML will be better suited." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46421371)) "Most agentic implementations should use something like BAML." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46421442)) "BAML is likewise a good fit when you prefer generated SDKs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45780507))
- Good for structured outputs (2 comments): "For structured outputs, JSON schema is slow and sluggish while BAML performs well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46016781)) "is really great for handling structured outputs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46660847))
- Readable for humans (2 comments): "I'd rather write something human readable and debuggable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45935665)) "This looks pretty nice for humans too actually." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48931687))

## What people warn about

- Adds unnecessary complexity (2 comments): "I personally have a distaste for external DSLs as I think it generally introduces complexity that I don't think is actually worthwhile" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47491231)) "This isn't needed at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48928072))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Rust](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rust.md): 2039 recommend
- [Go](https://hackerapproved.com/p/go-programming-language.md): 1254 recommend
- [Python](https://hackerapproved.com/p/python.md): 1067 recommend
- [Zig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zig.md): 743 recommend
- [TypeScript](https://hackerapproved.com/p/typescript.md): 574 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "BAML", https://hackerapproved.com/p/baml/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).