# JUCE

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/juce/

12 people recommended JUCE in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 12 months, in 10 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

6 of the 12 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “”.

**Verdict:** Developers recommend JUCE as a cross-platform C++ framework for audio plugins and apps, citing its GUI and reliability. Critics say it is a poor fit for some projects and has licence limits for commercial products.

Summary written by Claude from 28 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 27 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Cross-platform support that works well (4 comments in the sample): "I've settled on JUCE as my cross-platform app framework (not just plugins) of choice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48908236)) "JUCE is the standard for cross platform music plugin development" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48908290)) "provides a uniform interface to all these formats and more" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48383862))
- Good, versatile GUI framework (3 comments in the sample): "JUCE' GUI is pretty darn good, I have to say, in face of the onslaught of platform vendor fuckery." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47659590)) "I have hundreds of VSTs made with JUCE and I love their UIs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47659325)) "JUCE' GUI framework is extremely versatile" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47664123))
- Standard for audio plugin development (2 comments in the sample): "I remember it being the absolute best for plugin development" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49945073)) "I love and use many audio plugins created with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48908678))
- Many built-in features and batteries (2 comments in the sample): "JUCE' primary value is as a runtime environment" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48410175)) "it comes with a lot of batteries onboard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48815454))

## What people warn about

- Poor fit for some projects (3 comments in the sample): "JUCE is a great choice for some things, but this wasn't one of them!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48908268)) "Neither JUCE or any other non-HTML UI framework would be realistic for that!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48909412)) "JUCE has too many downsides to seriously recommend imo" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47661441))
- UI looks bland and non-native (2 comments in the sample): "The UI in Rowland's demo at 32min is feeling a little DearImGui / Reaper-ish, kinda bland while also being non-native." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47661211)) "those 'out-of-the-box' horizontal sliders it seems to prioritize" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47661933))
- Licence limits for commercial products (2 comments in the sample): "PACE who banned scripting in the JUCE 8 license terms" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46136804)) "it has a lot of barriers for commercial products" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49934814))

## 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, "JUCE", https://hackerapproved.com/p/juce/ (12 recommend, 1 mixed, 5 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

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