# Doom Emacs Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/doom-emacs/ 47 people recommended Doom Emacs in Hacker News comments, 9 had mixed feelings and 21 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 12 months, in 29 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People recommend Doom Emacs as a preconfigured Emacs setup that gives beginners sane defaults and Vim-style keys. Critics say it hides how Emacs works and adds complexity. Summary written by Claude from 53 comments. ## Why people recommend it - Shows what Emacs can do (6 comments in the sample): "Doom emacs and Spacemacs are both good starter kits to give you an idea of what you could do." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945016)) "I found DistroTubes literate DoomEmacs Config a good starting point to see whats possible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45785370)) "I suggest trying out Doom and maybe some other configs to see what's available" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784987)) - Works well for long-term use (6 comments in the sample): "switched to Emacs and Doom + eVil, and am relieved to be back in a nice stable system again" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273715)) "everything mostly just works other than some color scheme weirdness I had to fix" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48536653)) "that config gave me the opportunity to stay in Doom Emacs for 98% of the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48389639)) - Sane defaults and good out-of-box setup (5 comments in the sample): "some other distro like Doom Emacs or Spacemacs or stuff like that, if they are after a better out of the box experience" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48539094)) "it definitely helped to streamline the beginner phase where vanilla would have felt overwhelming" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45833680)) "with Doom I didn't have to cobble together a functional config from scratch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46405033)) - Familiar Vim-style keybindings out of the box (5 comments in the sample): "Doom is configured from the get go as a gateway from vim/neovim into emacs, and it does that job very well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45835555)) "The key bindings out of the box with something like Doom emacsx is a big selling point too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46562683)) "I would recommend just using Doom especially if you are coming from a Vim background." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45783735)) ## What people warn about - Hides underlying Emacs understanding (4 comments in the sample): "Don't use doom etc, just standard emacs, otherwise you won't have any understanding of what is happening and how to fix it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784290)) "so many things are already installed/configured that you end up using them without any real "under the hood" understanding" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45833718)) "cryptic setups that are wrapped in "convenience layers" that obscure details" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45943838)) - Adds complexity and extra code (3 comments in the sample): "Doom suffered (for me) from a lot of complexity, assumed emacs knowledge, and confusion for how to customize." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49021405)) "I feel like I am depending on a huge bunch of code and configuration I might not really even need" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48585415)) "modernizing frameworks like Doom / Spacemacs only add to the complexity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47902537)) - Modal editing disliked (2 comments in the sample): "it starts with Vi keybindings by default (I quite disfavour modal editing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45833574)) "The modal editing of vim, doom etc always struck me as pointless typing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47110606)) ## Other Emacs distributions people recommend - [Emacs Bedrock](https://hackerapproved.com/p/emacs-bedrock/): 20 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize - [Spacemacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/spacemacs/): 17 recommend, 6 mixed, 16 criticize - [Emacs Solo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/emacs-solo/): 7 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize - [minimal-emacs.d by James Cherti](https://hackerapproved.com/p/minimal-emacs-d/): 6 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Doom Emacs", https://hackerapproved.com/p/doom-emacs/ (47 recommend, 9 mixed, 21 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.