Hotwire
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 11 of 21 JavaScript frameworks by recommenders
People recommend Hotwire for adding interactivity to server-rendered HTML with little JavaScript and little client-side state to debug. Critics say UI code gets spread across several files.
People recommend Hotwire for adding interactivity to server-rendered HTML with little JavaScript and little client-side state to debug. Critics say UI code gets spread across several files.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 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
Less JavaScript than single-page apps
“Being able to sprinkle just enough JavaScript on server rended HTML works really well.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Django 6” “SPA's add considerable complexity that just isn't necessary for most web apps”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Returning to Rails in 2026” Little client-side state to debug
“it's worked for years with almost no client-side state to debug”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “The unreasonable effectiveness of simple HTML” “given how well it debugs Hotwire issues”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “Go is the best language for agents” Fast and easy to maintain
“Rails Hotwire, Phoenix Liveview, HTMX are all vastly faster and easier to maintain”
Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “How I use HTMX with Go” “They work great and the code is concise and beautiful.”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Ruby on Rails is Dead (2026 Edition)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
UI logic spread across several files
“writing UIs across three files (template, stimulus controllers, css) is such a tremendous bore”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Vanilla CSS is all you need” “My logic was spread out over 3 files!”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Does Anybody Actually Like React?”
Other JavaScript frameworks people recommend
The four most recommended other JavaScript frameworks, 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.
See all 21 JavaScript frameworks, rankedWhat people said
20 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“his jamming of things like thruster, hotwire, etc etc into the framework and then now basically abandoning them”
“DHH's own pitch for HotWire was that it allowed a native like experience without having to bow to Apple app store review process.”
“hotwire and getting rid of TypeScript being top ones recently”
“I've used it on quite complex UIs and for the life of me I don't believe React would be so popular in new projects if people knew how good this was.”
“Rails Hotwire, Phoenix Liveview, HTMX are all vastly faster and easier to maintain”
“I got charmed by this path with LiveView and Hotwire back in the day.”
“it's worked for years with almost no client-side state to debug”
“Hotwire and Hotwire Native are amazingly useful tech.”
“Hotwire doesn't work anywhere you can't guarantee a high-quality low-latency connection.”
“My logic was spread out over 3 files!”
“They work great and the code is concise and beautiful.”
“you can build PWAs that feel native pretty easily with Hotwire”
“workarounds like Hotwire, which make it look like it's not SSR”
“There are other mental frameworks that allow for good engineering practices as well like htmx or hotwire.”
“SPA's add considerable complexity that just isn't necessary for most web apps”
“given how well it debugs Hotwire issues”
“those of us who prefer Ruby, Rails, and HotWire”
“They all have the same basic idea with differences in how they achieve it”
“Being able to sprinkle just enough JavaScript on server rended HTML works really well.”
“writing UIs across three files (template, stimulus controllers, css) is such a tremendous bore”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.