# Hologram

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Hologram and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for full-stack development in pure Elixir, with the same code on server and client. Caveat: heavier browser runtime and no built-in file uploads.

## Why people recommend it

- Full-stack development in pure Elixir (3 comments): "The tradeoff is a heavier runtime, but the benefit is that the same Elixir code can run on both server and client with consistent behavior." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46987408)) "Hologram compiles Elixir to JavaScript to run in the browser, enabling full-stack development in pure Elixir" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46498470)) "compiles Elixir to JavaScript to run in the browser, enabling full-stack development in pure Elixir" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46700184))
- Enjoyable developer experience (3 comments): "I think he’s created something truly special here. I’ve been playing around with it and the DX is unmatched imo." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49712521)) "a very promising DX with what looks like a very reasonable roadmap and clear intent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49007781)) "Hologram is a joy to work with." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49009610))
- Promising roadmap and active project (4 comments): "We're seeing real-world production use, endorsements from community leaders, and genuine excitement from the ecosystem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46073095)) "a very promising DX with what looks like a very reasonable roadmap and clear intent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49007781)) "Hologram is an amazing project and I'm really excited for it's future." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46985360))

## What people warn about

- Heavier runtime (1 comments): "The tradeoff is a heavier runtime, but the benefit is that the same Elixir code can run on both server and client with consistent behavior." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46987408))
- No built-in file uploads (2 comments): "The only thing that's stopping me from trying this currently is file uploads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49013336)) "it didn't have anything built-in for file uploads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49014455))
- Docs need more images (1 comments): "I feel it would be better promoted if it included more images in the doc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49012049))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Ruby on Rails](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ruby-on-rails.md): 337 recommend
- [Django](https://hackerapproved.com/p/django.md): 277 recommend
- [Next.js](https://hackerapproved.com/p/next-js.md): 127 recommend
- [Phoenix Framework](https://hackerapproved.com/p/phoenix.md): 85 recommend
- [Laravel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/laravel.md): 71 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Hologram", https://hackerapproved.com/p/hologram/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).