JSON5
Hacker ApprovedData format in Developer tools
Adds comments, trailing commas and other conveniences to JSON while staying easy to write by hand. Caveat: most people find it unfamiliar and prefer plain JSON.
Adds comments, trailing commas and other conveniences to JSON while staying easy to write by hand. Caveat: most people find it unfamiliar and prefer plain JSON.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 94%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 15 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 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
Allows comments and trailing commas
“JSON5 (as used in e.g. VSCode) allows for comments, trailing commas and other creature comforts.”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “The Lost Art of XML” “It fixes so many of JSONs shortcomings like comments.”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “Stop Using Conventional Commits” “notable mention for JSON5 which supports comments!”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Do You Even Need a Database?” Fixes JSON's shortcomings
“It fixes so many of JSONs shortcomings like comments.”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “Stop Using Conventional Commits” “it solves all the issues with normal json”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “Why do so many tools have JSON config files?” Less restrictive than JSON
“it solves all the issues with normal json”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “Why do so many tools have JSON config files?” “which greatly reduces the restrictions”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “FracturedJson” Preferred over plain JSON
“I really feel JSON5 should just be the default standard”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “Stop Using Conventional Commits” “They could have just adopted json5 by the looks of it”
Comment from 5 Sep 2026 in “Kubernetes Promotes Kyaml as a Safer, More Consistent Way to Work with Manifests” “JSON5 is a much better choice.”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Things I don't like in configuration languages”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Unfamiliar; most people prefer JSON
“it's weird and unfamiliar, most people prefer plain JSON”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “LLM=True”
What people recommend instead
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.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JSON5This page | 15 | 1 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| TOON | 13 | 10 | 57% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
17 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“They could have just adopted json5 by the looks of it”
“You can always use JSONC or JSON5.”
“it solves all the issues with normal json”
“pleasant enough to write by hand while not creating yet another new syntax”
“I'm somewhat boggled that json5 hasn't grown to be more of a thing.”
“I really feel JSON5 should just be the default standard”
“It fixes so many of JSONs shortcomings like comments.”
“gives you most of the brevity of yaml without the terrible ideas”
“notable mention for JSON5 which supports comments!”
“I wish JSON5 was as well supported as JSON is.”
“it's weird and unfamiliar, most people prefer plain JSON”
“the take on this that actually saw adoption”
“JSON5 (as used in e.g. VSCode) allows for comments, trailing commas and other creature comforts.”
“no JSON5 is not the answer either”
“which greatly reduces the restrictions”
“always been a proponent of JSON5 for this reason.”
“JSON5 is a much better choice.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.