LyX
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 8 of 14 word processors by recommenders
Recommended for a graphical equation editor and fast, lightweight writing on top of LaTeX; critics say it is hard for beginners and fails to open files created elsewhere.
Recommended for a graphical equation editor and fast, lightweight writing on top of LaTeX; critics say it is hard for beginners and fails to open files created elsewhere.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 76%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not 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: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 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
Visual equation editor that works well
“This makes it much easier to write formulas, because I don't have to keep track of parens at all.”
Comment from 26 Feb 2026 in “GNU Texmacs” “I find the visual rendering of the equations super helpful”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “GNU Texmacs” “It has the best graphical equation editor I've ever used”
Comment from 26 Feb 2026 in “GNU Texmacs” - Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “TeX Live 2026 is available for download now”
Reliable for years of writing
“I wrote my PhD in LyX for that reason.”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Prism” “LyX has met my needs since 2019”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “TeX Live 2026 is available for download now”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Just a layer over TeX
“LyX is cool but it was still just on top of TeX.”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “TeX Live 2026 is available for download now”
Other word processors people recommend
The four most recommended other word processors, with 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Docs | 144 | 137 | 51% | 13 | 11 yrs4 owners | — |
| Microsoft Word | 129 | 234 | 36% | 12 | 20 yrs5 owners | — |
| Apple Pages | 39 | 27 | 59% | 11 | — | — |
| WordPerfect | 36 | 7 | 84% | 9 | — | Approved |
| LyXThis page | 13 | 4 | 76% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
16 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“LyX or some sort of Markdown editor with robust templates/stylesheets strikes me as more interesting.”
“the closest to what I'm thinking of that I know of”
“Proper technical authoring systems like Typst, LyX and LaTeX are way too hard for the average person”
“it changed my opinion on WYSIWYG”
“will often fail opening ones that were created outside of it”
“For cross-platform, low hassle, just use LyX + XeTeX + decent fonts.”
“it really feels like something which LyX should have done”
“their manuals are very well written”
“LyX has met my needs since 2019”
“It has an equation editor that actually works very well”
“LyX is cool but it was still just on top of TeX.”
“This makes it much easier to write formulas, because I don't have to keep track of parens at all.”
“LyX is very fast & lightweight. Runs fast and is very responsive even on a raspberry pi.”
“It has the best graphical equation editor I've ever used”
“I find the visual rendering of the equations super helpful”
“I wrote my PhD in LyX for that reason.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.