# iD editor

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/id-editor/

11 people recommended iD editor in Hacker News comments and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 7 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

6 of the 11 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Make your first edit to OpenStreetMap”.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an easy, beginner-friendly editor built into the OpenStreetMap website that still handles large edits; the most common caveat is that it can feel overwhelming with so much data.

Summary written by Claude from the comments below.

## Why people recommend it

- Easy to learn for beginners (3 comments in the sample): "The iD editor in openstreetmap.org is much more user friendly than JOSM." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49676420)) "As a beginner use the editor built in on the website instead" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49675224)) "even the web-based iD editor is so much easier to figure out" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49921200))
- Built into the OSM website (2 comments in the sample): "Doing the same with iD (the editor embedded in the OSM website) is faster and there's even a tutorial" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49674503)) "The iD editor built into the openstreetmap.org site is really easy to use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49483999))
- Easy to use (1 comment in the sample): "It works, it's not hard to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49676554))

## Other map editors people recommend

- [Every Door](https://hackerapproved.com/p/every-door/): 19 recommend, 2 mixed, 4 criticize
- [MapComplete](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mapcomplete/): 16 recommend, 0 mixed, 2 criticize
- [JOSM](https://hackerapproved.com/p/josm/): 9 recommend, 2 mixed, 11 criticize
- [OpenStreetMap web editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openstreetmap-web-editor/): 5 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 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, "iD editor", https://hackerapproved.com/p/id-editor/ (11 recommend, 0 mixed, 3 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

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