# JetBrains Mono

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/jetbrains-mono/

21 people recommended JetBrains Mono in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 12 months, in 11 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free monospace coding font with clear, distinct characters that many people stick with. Critics say it looks too large in headings and is overused.

Summary written by Claude from 25 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Long-time daily driver for many (5 comments in the sample): "I personally love Jetbrains Mono; it's been one of a kind for me and my tastes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850536)) "It's my daily driver, so I kind of twitched a bit saying that list in here." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48315508)) "I used this font for a long time and I still use it for my terminal font." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47576137))
- Clear, easy to read (3 comments in the sample): "JetBrains Mono, IBM Plex Mono (or Lilex) or Roboto Mono just seem to work much better for my tired eyes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50088996)) "Crisp, all characters distinguishable, slightly larger lowercase for better reading" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46248368)) "something about it that makes it so clean and pleasant to read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49000579))
- Good enough to keep defaults (3 comments in the sample): "JetBrains Mono is good enough for me to not venture far away from defaults" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46250172)) "Ended up with jetbrains mono too, which is what i use anyway" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47589336)) "If JetBrains Mono suits your work you should use it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48321669))
- Free, high-quality coding font (2 comments in the sample): "JetBrains Mono does make it very hard to justify spending anything more than nothing on a good font" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48663835)) "I find the free choices (JetBrains Mono, Iosevka, Fira Code… quite enough." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48665656))

## What people warn about

- Looks too large in headings (2 comments in the sample): "It's for code and it's annoying me quite a bit when I see it in big H1 sizes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49917523)) "feeling so large compared to the compact characters I'm used to" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47581134))

## Other monospace fonts people recommend

- [Iosevka](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iosevka/): 95 recommend, 13 mixed, 9 criticize
- [Nordwand Mono](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nordwand-mono/): 30 recommend, 9 mixed, 4 criticize
- [Berkeley Mono](https://hackerapproved.com/p/berkeley-mono/): 21 recommend, 6 mixed, 5 criticize
- [Myna](https://hackerapproved.com/p/myna-typeface/): 17 recommend, 12 mixed, 7 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, "JetBrains Mono", https://hackerapproved.com/p/jetbrains-mono/ (21 recommend, 1 mixed, 4 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

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