# Emacs Solo

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Emacs Solo and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A free Emacs configuration built entirely on built-in packages, with 35 modules and no external packages, that people recommend as a thoughtful reference.

## Why people recommend it

- Uses only built-in packages (2 comments): "I'd recommend taking a look at them to get an idea of whats possible with an almost-entirely-vanilla emacs setup" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49441559)) "It's a config that is built based entirely on built-in packages rather than 3rd party packages" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45841087))
- Thoughtful, sane, polished design (3 comments): "Your work is inspiring to me in showing me what dedication and thoughtfulness can achieve" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47330396)) "beautiful, incredibly sane, and awesome reference material" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47318485)) "My goodness, how so thoughtful Emacs Solo is!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47321337))
- Good reference and starting point (3 comments): "I'd recommend taking a look at them to get an idea of whats possible with an almost-entirely-vanilla emacs setup" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49441559)) "beautiful, incredibly sane, and awesome reference material" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47318485)) "Those are both fantastic starting points." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49444487))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Doom Emacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/doom-emacs.md): 60 recommend
- [Spacemacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/spacemacs.md): 24 recommend
- [Emacs Bedrock](https://hackerapproved.com/p/emacs-bedrock.md): 21 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 Solo", https://hackerapproved.com/p/emacs-solo/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).