# Cuis Smalltalk

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Cuis Smalltalk and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, small and readable Smalltalk environment that people find the easiest entry point into modern Smalltalk.

## Why people recommend it

- Simple and easy to understand (4 comments): "It was easier to understand the libraries - for example I could read and understand the WebClient package in a couple of days and use it confidently." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50331170)) "For me it was easier and quicker to get something done in Cuis than in any other Smalltalk" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299704)) "Cuis has rigorously simplified, so its much easier to explore & understand the system" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299839))
- Fun and welcoming for learning (4 comments): "It was a lot of fun and a very nice introduction to object-oriented thinking." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50087985)) "just banging on the same image is just ... fun, easy, enticing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45826618)) "This feels cool and welcoming." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50299543))
- Vector graphics GUI (3 comments): "as a more idiomatic solution that also looks much better due to it's vector graphic based rendering engine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50250127)) "EVERYTHING you see in cuis is hardware accelerated vector graphics, even the fonts." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49265328)) "its GUI is based on vector graphics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49249925))
- Shared VM, simplified Morphic (2 comments): "The shared VM is a nice advantage, especially if performance isn't the main tradeoff" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50300911)) "In Cuis, Juan took morphic back to basics and updated it heavily." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49250820))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Squeak Smalltalk](https://hackerapproved.com/p/squeak.md): 25 recommend
- [Pharo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pharo.md): 21 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Cuis Smalltalk", https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuis-smalltalk/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).