# Geany

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/geany/

7 people recommended Geany in Hacker News comments, 3 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 7 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Simple, free editor for plain text and code, built on the same Scintilla component as Notepad++. Critics say it lacks some essential features.

Summary written by Claude from 9 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Shares Notepad++'s Scintilla editor component (2 comments in the sample): "Other Scintilla-based editors with a similar feel (but missing the Lua angle) are Geany and Kate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47240720)) "Both npp and geany use the same editor component." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46880263))
- Simple, comfortable plain-text editing (2 comments in the sample): "extreme amounts of copying/pasting/executing in Geany (a relatively simple editor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46500477)) "For a pure text editing experience, I've always felt most comfortable with Geany." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47950023))

## What people warn about

- Lacks some essential features (1 comment in the sample): "finding it lacking some essential features for my needs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47250062))
- Mediocre experience overall (1 comment in the sample): "Using geany for a week or so hasn't been terrible but its not great either." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46432382))

## Other text editors people recommend

- [GNU Emacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/emacs/): 463 recommend, 122 mixed, 162 criticize
- [Zed](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zed/): 450 recommend, 193 mixed, 376 criticize
- [Vim](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vim/): 412 recommend, 80 mixed, 107 criticize
- [Visual Studio Code](https://hackerapproved.com/p/visual-studio-code/): 332 recommend, 112 mixed, 509 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, "Geany", https://hackerapproved.com/p/geany/ (7 recommend, 3 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.