C++ Builder
Ranked 23 of 33 IDEs by recommenders
Recommended for fast Windows GUI development in C++, with RAD tooling shared with Delphi. Main caveat: it is Windows-only.
Recommended for fast Windows GUI development in C++, with RAD tooling shared with Delphi. Main caveat: it is Windows-only.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 82%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Fast, easy UI building
“Borland was way ahead of its time, nowadays there is no non-AI way to build a whole UI app in on afternoon like with Delphi/C++ Builder”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Escape IntelliJ: Scala and Kotlin LSPs on Emacs Eglot” “To this day, they don't have anything that can match C++ Builder RAD capabilities”
Comment from 25 Apr 2026 in “Turbo Vision 2.0 – a modern port” “Builder and Delphi 6 had a way to build and design UI's that worked smoothly”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Rethinking C++: Architecture, Concepts, and Responsibility” - Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Rethinking C++: Architecture, Concepts, and Responsibility”
- Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM”
- Comment from 28 Feb 2026 in “Rust Is Just a Tool”
- Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Decisions that eroded trust in Azure – by a former Azure Core engineer”
Better Windows GUI tooling than Visual C++
“In 2025, C++ Builder is still better than Visual C++, in what concerns doing Windows GUI development in C++”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Everyone in Seattle hates AI” “the tooling available in C++ Builder, Delphi, VB 6, C++/CX (WinRT is basically COM with extras) also great.”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “C Isn't a Language” “IDE based compilation workflows from C++ Builder and Visual C++”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Rethinking C++: Architecture, Concepts, and Responsibility” Rivals lack comparable RAD capabilities
“they never shipped anything comparable to C++ Builder, which shares the RAD tooling with Delphi”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Delphi 13 Community Edition Is Now Available” “To this day, they don't have anything that can match C++ Builder RAD capabilities”
Comment from 25 Apr 2026 in “Turbo Vision 2.0 – a modern port” “the only time they had something comparable to C++ Builder”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “Microsoft Hasn't Had a Coherent GUI Strategy Since Petzold” Shares RAD tooling with Delphi
“they never shipped anything comparable to C++ Builder, which shares the RAD tooling with Delphi”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Delphi 13 Community Edition Is Now Available” “which shares most of Delphi tooling”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Delphi 13 Community Edition Is Now Available”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Weaker than Delphi
“It has always been sub-par to Delphi”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Delphi 13 Community Edition Is Now Available” “They made it sub-par to Delphi.”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Delphi 13 Community Edition Is Now Available”
Other IDEs people recommend
The four most recommended other IDEs, 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.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBrains IDEs | 233 | 143 | 62% | 13 | 10 yrs39 owners | — |
| IntelliJ IDEA | 206 | 105 | 66% | 13 | 10 yrs18 owners | — |
| Microsoft Visual Studio | 165 | 165 | 50% | 12 | 10 yrs10 owners | — |
| Delphi | 126 | 44 | 74% | 13 | 23 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| C++ BuilderThis page | 9 | 2 | 82% | 9 | — | — |
What people said
33 of the 34 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“unless we're adding Delphi, C++ Builder, Qt into the picture”
“It has always been sub-par to Delphi”
“They made it sub-par to Delphi.”
“they never shipped anything comparable to C++ Builder, which shares the RAD tooling with Delphi”
“nowadays it is Windows-only, including targets”
“came with a nice manual book that explained object oriented programming from basic concepts”
“which shares most of Delphi tooling”
“it was pretty easy to make a decent desktop app”
“offer a few Delphi and C++ Builder licenses to the teams responsible for doing COM tooling”
“Borland was way ahead of its time, nowadays there is no non-AI way to build a whole UI app in on afternoon like with Delphi/C++ Builder”
“Personally I'd still advocate for Delphi / C++Builder there.”
“make Delphi and CppBuilder available for small money”
“Some of us still haven't lost it thanks to Delphi, C++ Builder, .NET or even Java.”
“To this day, they don't have anything that can match C++ Builder RAD capabilities”
“I would chose .NET, Delphi, C++ Builder, Qt”
“the only time they had something comparable to C++ Builder”
“as easy to use as C++ Builder does it”
“I don't get the downplay of Delphi or C++ Builder”
“C++ Builder (with its RAD capabilities)”
“My dad taught me how to code with Borland C++ Builder, and I'm forever grateful.”
“the tooling available in C++ Builder, Delphi, VB 6, C++/CX (WinRT is basically COM with extras) also great.”
“none of the Rust toolkits is half as good as the surviving frameworks, like C++ Builder, Qt, wxWidgets”
“Here I'd prefer Borland with (Pascal) Delphi / C++ Builder.”
“it's still a lot nicer than normal C++ and COM”
“C++Builder’s entire UI system is built around __closure and it is remarkably efficient”
“Not if using Delphi or C++ Builder.”
“they should actually buy a copy of C++ Builder”
“In 2025, C++ Builder is still better than Visual C++, in what concerns doing Windows GUI development in C++”
“Builder and Delphi 6 had a way to build and design UI's that worked smoothly”
“had a way to build and design UI's that worked smoothly”
“IDE based compilation workflows from C++ Builder and Visual C++”
“I still love C++ Builder, regardless of all Borland misteps”
“Then there is C++ Builder, still going on, even though the way Borland went down spoiled its market mindshare”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.