# libkrun 13 Hacker News commenters recommended libkrun and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Recommended as an embeddable microVM library and drop-in backend for Podman and crun; the most common caveat is that it is not production ready. ## Why people recommend it - Used as a Podman backend (4 comments): "Podman supports using KVM backed virtualization for containers via libkrun" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49969474)) "I use it as a podman backend which works exactly as you describe here." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49026826)) "I use it as a podman backend in a microservice architecture." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48689100)) - Lightweight cross-platform microVMs (3 comments): "if you want cross-platform microvms, there's an interesting project called libkrun" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46933574)) "My favorite microVM discovery recently has been tools built around libkrun." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48619853)) "a microVM like libkrun[2] if your goal is light-weight" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48778760)) ## What people warn about - No readily available Ubuntu package (2 comments): "it requires krun which does not have a readily-available package on ubuntu" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49078668)) "krun does not have a readily available package for ubuntu" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49086120)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Firecracker](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firecracker.md): 78 recommend - [smolvm by smolmachines](https://hackerapproved.com/p/smolvm.md): 28 recommend - [smolmachines](https://hackerapproved.com/p/smol-machines.md): 27 recommend - [Bhatti](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bhatti.md): 8 recommend - [Local-First Linux MicroVMs for macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/local-first-linux-microvms-for-macos.md): 8 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "libkrun", https://hackerapproved.com/p/libkrun/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).