# Emacs Bedrock

21 Hacker News commenters recommended Emacs Bedrock and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A free Emacs starter kit with better defaults and example configuration, often recommended to new or overwhelmed Emacs users as a base to build on.

## Why people recommend it

- Good starting point for new users (7 comments): "I highly recommend Bedrock to first-time or new-ish Emacs users who feel overwhelmed or who need a little organization in their environment." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48694894)) "some time ago I declared Emacs bankruptcy and started from Bedrock, every chance I get I recommend it now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45786930)) "I’ve recently rewrote my configuration and used Bedrock as a new starting point. It’s great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45785766))
- Sensible defaults and example configuration (2 comments): "It's just a bunch of better defaults, plus some example configuration for some of the most popular packages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48590209)) "It helped me get started with reasonable defaults out-of-box." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791808))
- Well curated, well maintained packages (2 comments): "It's a very well curated set of packages that enhance the basic experience." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46194572)) "awesome and well maintained Emacs starter kit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46722694))
- Built-in customization, easy to understand (2 comments): "I made Bedrock as a bare-bones starting point that focuses on built-in customization and understandability." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50278107)) "gave me the room I needed to get my own setup together" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48585143))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Doom Emacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/doom-emacs.md): 60 recommend
- [Spacemacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/spacemacs.md): 24 recommend
- [Emacs Solo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/emacs-solo.md): 7 recommend
- [minimal-emacs.d by James Cherti](https://hackerapproved.com/p/minimal-emacs-d.md): 6 recommend
- [IDEmacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/idemacs.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Emacs Bedrock", https://hackerapproved.com/p/emacs-bedrock/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).