# Conan

14 Hacker News commenters recommended Conan and 12 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for cross-platform C/C++ dependencies and ABI checks. Critics say it needs more configuring than alternatives and recipes are inconsistent.

## Why people recommend it

- Cross-platform C/C++ dependency management (3 comments): "tools like vcpkg and Conan exist specifically for this: cross-platform C/C++ dependency management with one workflow regardless of target" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47087560)) "Conan fundamentally CAN handle every part of the general problem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47711072)) "Conan and vcpkg are established enough." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48791872))
- Installs dependencies and creates deployment packages (2 comments): "conan is very helpful to install all your dependencies and to create deployment packages" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49271616)) "You can use `conan` as a source package manager to get something closer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49279567))
- Better than ad hoc alternatives (2 comments): "all better choices than abusing the Python ecosystem to ship arbitrary executables" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45853945)) "What Conan does is much more sensible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47575252))

## What people warn about

- Ecosystem broken and recipes inconsistent (4 comments): "My hopes were higher during the conan peak days, but now the ecosystem is just so broken" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47526726)) "Back when conan came out I had hopes for it, but meanwhile I gave up on the ecosystem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688278)) "Conan, which is also a complete shitshow for the reasons outlined in the article" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46782779))
- Needs more configuring than alternatives (2 comments): "conan and vcpkg are not default and required much more configuring in comparison with cargo" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47566085)) "those are not really standard and there is friction involved in getting it work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47566059))
- Critics gave up on it (2 comments): "I have used vcpkg and conan extensively and have completely given up on them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47216794)) "Cmake and Conan ain’t it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47595031))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Nix](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nix.md): 378 recommend
- [Homebrew](https://hackerapproved.com/p/homebrew.md): 271 recommend
- [npm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/npm.md): 161 recommend
- [pnpm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pnpm.md): 124 recommend
- [Cargo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cargo.md): 123 recommend

## Cite as

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