# Gradle 26 Hacker News commenters recommended Gradle and 73 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended for powerful build automation that handles JVM toolchains and scales across large, long-lived projects. Critics agree it is complex and breaks often between versions. ## Why people recommend it - Proven at scale over years (3 comments): "Standardizing so many ancient build processes into a modern gradle setup was a ton of effort over multiple years, but totally worth it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974926)) "All our products and tools around them are built by using Gradle, for more than a decade now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49991846)) "Gradle did it successfully and it's great now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47940301)) - Better than Maven in comparison (4 comments): "I think I even prefer it to Maven, in a choice between a rock and a hard place type of way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47426080)) "I always hated Maven, until I started using Gradle" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48317095)) "Gradle just works better in comparison." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47161434)) - Powerful when used well (2 comments): "Gradle is really powerful if you know what you're doing and you take the time and effort to keep your build optimized" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48319535)) "Gradle can do that for you if you know how to wield it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48321236)) - Scripted DSL build files praised (2 comments): "which has its own idiocities (like tending to break the syntax on every second major version, but it's much better with the kotlin DSL)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47436509)) "Using a DSL in a scripting language was a smart move." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48319794)) ## What people warn about - Complex and hard to maintain (3 comments): "Gradle's long list of capabilities can sometimes be as much of a liability (or at least a frustration) as it is a boon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45839622)) "you'll have to integrate with Gradle. The result is a complexity clusterf*ck that's a nightmare to maintain" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45924900)) "it's very easy for an project with moderate to high complexity to wind up in a huge tangled mess" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45848448)) - Frequent breaking changes between releases (3 comments): "which has its own idiocities (like tending to break the syntax on every second major version, but it's much better with the kotlin DSL)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47436509)) "Gradle's constant API reshuffling for the sake of it that breaks plugins" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46053750)) "toolchains I haven't even chosen to use, like gradle and kotlin, that seem to break everything every release" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48554773)) - Slow and heavy in practice (2 comments): "every time I fire up an old Android project it needs to download 500MB just for gradle upgrades" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347571)) "never felt snappy to use - it is annoying when even doing basic things takes 2+ seconds" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46454116)) - Hard for newcomers to learn (2 comments): "harder to get someone started with than Maven and due to the DSL allows you to invent weirder footguns" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47423087)) "Gradles complexity especially with newcomers I believe to be holding back adoption of Kotlin/Native" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47204274)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Bazel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bazel.md): 79 recommend - [GNU Make](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gnu-make.md): 76 recommend - [CMake](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cmake.md): 58 recommend - [Apache Maven](https://hackerapproved.com/p/maven.md): 44 recommend - [Ninja build system](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ninja.md): 37 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Gradle", https://hackerapproved.com/p/gradle/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).