# IBM Plex Mono

14 Hacker News commenters recommended IBM Plex Mono and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for clean rendering at small and high-DPI sizes, several weights, and CJK variants for Japanese text. No critics appear in the quotes.

## Why people recommend it

- Renders well at small sizes (2 comments): "A modern typeface like IBM Plex Mono that offers more weights and can still render nicely at 10px size would be a better choice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47211576)) "Based on rendering quality even at low PPI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50228623))
- Includes CJK variants for Japanese (2 comments): "I often need to read Japanese characters so I'm gonna stick to IBM Plex, which has both Monospace and CJK variants." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851394)) "the one I love most of the fonts with CJK variants" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47578535))
- Long-time favorite for coding (2 comments): "Plex Monospace is great for coding as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46435037)) "IBM Plex Mono has been my choice for years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45855592))
- Many weights, including Ultralight (2 comments): "A modern typeface like IBM Plex Mono that offers more weights and can still render nicely at 10px size would be a better choice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47211576)) "IBM Plex Mono Ultralight is a joy to look at on a high DPI display." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47576698))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Iosevka](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iosevka.md): 108 recommend
- [Nordwand Mono](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nordwand-mono.md): 40 recommend
- [Myna](https://hackerapproved.com/p/myna-typeface.md): 29 recommend
- [Berkeley Mono](https://hackerapproved.com/p/berkeley-mono.md): 27 recommend
- [JetBrains Mono](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jetbrains-mono.md): 23 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "IBM Plex Mono", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ibm-plex-mono/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).