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GDScript

Ranked 4 of 14 scripting languages by recommenders

Godot's built-in scripting language, favored for fast iteration and small games, with weak performance, limited typing and lock-in to Godot as the common caveat.

Godot's built-in scripting language, favored for fast iteration and small games, with weak performance, limited typing and lock-in to Godot as the common caveat.

38 people gave an opinion

recommend it
22
criticize it
16
approval share
58%
Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

Recommended in 9 of 13 months

  1. November 2025: recommended
  2. December 2025: recommended
  3. January 2026: recommended
  4. February 2026: not recommended
  5. March 2026: recommended
  6. April 2026: recommended
  7. May 2026: not recommended
  8. June 2026: recommended
  9. July 2026: recommended
  10. August 2026: not recommended
  11. September 2026: recommended
  12. October 2026: recommended
  13. November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)

Why it doesn’t carry the badge

  • 22 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
  • 1.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
  • Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.

The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works

What people say about it

The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.

Why people recommend it

Each mark is one comment

  • Fast, pleasant development workflow

    “The beauty in GDscript is that you can work incredibly fast in it.”

    Comment from 6 Oct 2026 on Hacker News

    “the game dev loop feels faster when using it”

    Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

    “The GDScript workflow is honestly great.”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”
  • Best integrated with Godot

    “GDScript is undoubtedly better integrated in the engine”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

    “it’s currently the best supported language in Godot”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

    “GDScript might be a bad general purpose language but it is a good language for Godot.”

    Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”
  • Easy for small games

    “I'm specifically recommending GDScript over C# for ease of use”

    Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

    “it's hard to beat GDScript when it comes to making small games”

    Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Half-Life 2 in a Browser”

    “GDscript with strict type-hinting might suffice for small ones”

    Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”
  • Ergonomic scripting, drop to C++

    “My philosophy has always been “ergonomic scripting or drop to C++”, so I’m quite okay with it.”

    Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

    “GDScript + c++ is my point.”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

What people warn about

Each mark is one comment

  • Performance ceiling and slowness

    “until i just hit the ceilling of what i could handle with gdscript performance wise”

    Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

    “no plans to improve GDscript performance other than maybe the interpreter itself”

    Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

    “gdscript is incredibly slow, worst than something like lua”

    Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”
  • Locked to Godot, no libraries

    “GDScript is never going to be a general purpose programming language, and that necessarily creates lock-in.”

    Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

    “GDScript, which in itself is proprietary and has no other uses for you than, ehh, Godot”

    Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

    “no one is writing libraries in GDScript, because no one is using it outside of Godot”

    Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”
  • Harder to maintain as projects grow

    “GDScript is not very maintainable as the code base grows”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

    “more difficulty and friction in development with new mechanisms demanding that you take the limitations of both languages in mind”

    Comment from 19 Apr 2026 in “Updating Gun Rocket through 10 years of Unity Engine”
  • Missing features like full typing

    “Still doesn't have full static typing support to my knowledge, which is a dealbreaker to me.”

    Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

    “gdscript is missing basic features like interfaces”

    Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Half-Life 2 in a Browser”

    “it's still a bit basic but continually getting better”

    Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Claude Code skills that build complete Godot games”

Other scripting languages people recommend

The four most recommended other scripting languages, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.

GDScript compared with 4 alternatives
ProductRecommendCriticizeApprovalMonthsOwnedBadge
Lua1866275%1210 yrs5 ownersApproved
awk671879%12—Approved
AutoHotkey44590%11—Approved
GDScriptThis page221658%9——
AppleScript191851%10——
See all 14 scripting languages, ranked

What people said

40 of the 50 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“The beauty in GDscript is that you can work incredibly fast in it.”

RecommendsComment from 6 Oct 2026 on Hacker News

“no one is writing libraries in GDScript, because no one is using it outside of Godot”

CriticizesComment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

“GDScript is never going to be a general purpose programming language, and that necessarily creates lock-in.”

CriticizesComment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

“GDScript, which in itself is proprietary and has no other uses for you than, ehh, Godot”

CriticizesComment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

“I agree that GDScript performance isn't good.”

CriticizesComment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

“no plans to improve GDscript performance other than maybe the interpreter itself”

CriticizesComment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

“gdscript is incredibly slow, worst than something like lua”

CriticizesComment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

“until i just hit the ceilling of what i could handle with gdscript performance wise”

CriticizesComment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Using any C++ library in Godot”

“we now have a fantastic community around it.”

RecommendsComment from 27 Sep 2026 in “We Should Be Able to Change Our Languages”

“Easily my favorite part of GDScript”

RecommendsComment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Godot will no longer accept AI-authored code contributions”

“gdscript is missing basic features like interfaces”

CriticizesComment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Half-Life 2 in a Browser”

“it's hard to beat GDScript when it comes to making small games”

MixedComment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Half-Life 2 in a Browser”

“I found GDScript to be quite powerful in terms of functionality.”

RecommendsComment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Half-Life 2 in a Browser”

“the worst AI performance I've seen was with gdscript”

CriticizesComment from 26 May 2026 in “Use Boring Languages with LLMs”

“Or maybe without GDScript the engine would not get the traction it has”

MixedComment from 20 Apr 2026 in “Updating Gun Rocket through 10 years of Unity Engine”

“more difficulty and friction in development with new mechanisms demanding that you take the limitations of both languages in mind”

MixedComment from 19 Apr 2026 in “Updating Gun Rocket through 10 years of Unity Engine”

“Since they added static typing, GDScript is perfectly adequate as a scripting language”

RecommendsComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Claude Code skills that build complete Godot games”

“The Community (tm) likes gdscript because it's "easier" to "get started". They are completely unconcerned with it being harder to finish.”

CriticizesComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Claude Code skills that build complete Godot games”

“it's still a bit basic but continually getting better”

MixedComment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Claude Code skills that build complete Godot games”

“wouldn't you prefer to use static typing?”

MixedComment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Claude Code skills that build complete Godot games”

“the game dev loop feels faster when using it”

MixedComment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

“GDScript might be a bad general purpose language but it is a good language for Godot.”

RecommendsComment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

“Still doesn't have full static typing support to my knowledge, which is a dealbreaker to me.”

CriticizesComment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

“I don't hate it, but I don't like it either.”

MixedComment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

“it is just more pleasant to use”

RecommendsComment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

“I think GDScript is great”

RecommendsComment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

“GDscript with strict type-hinting might suffice for small ones”

MixedComment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

“My philosophy has always been “ergonomic scripting or drop to C++”, so I’m quite okay with it.”

RecommendsComment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”

“I'm offering real practical advice from experience of having worked on real projects.”

RecommendsComment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“I'm specifically recommending GDScript over C# for ease of use”

RecommendsComment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“it’s currently the best supported language in Godot”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“GDScript + c++ is my point.”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“90% of game development is animating stuff and user interface development. GDScript is great for that.”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“I won't even get into how big of projects I've written in GDScript successfully.”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“GDScript is undoubtedly better integrated in the engine”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“GDScript is not very maintainable as the code base grows”

CriticizesComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“I haven't had any issues with it”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“The GDScript workflow is honestly great.”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Unity's Mono problem: Why your C# code runs slower than it should”

“feels like moving to a kids toy language like Scratch.”

CriticizesComment from 22 Nov 2025 in “An Interview with Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg About Turnarounds”

“In terms of syntax, Godot's GDScript comes closest to my ideal.”

RecommendsComment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Syntax and Semantics of Programming Languages (1995)”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.