Developer tools · ide
Mercek
Desktop IDE for AWS ECS that avoids Electron and uses little memory. Critics find the look generic and AI-styled.
Summarized from 10 comments.
Desktop IDE for AWS ECS that avoids Electron and uses little memory. Critics find the look generic and AI-styled.
- recommend
- 8
- criticize
- 2
- months recommended
- 1 of 13
Why people love it
Useful contextual view of ECS · 2
having an app like this to show things in a more contextualized way I think can be extremely useful
Jun 2026 · commentI can't tell you the number of times I wished someone had built something like this!
Jun 2026 · commentClean, attractive UI · 2
i think his UI looks wonderful, props to the creator of this ECS app for sharing it with the world
Jun 2026 · commentthis thing looks pretty nice, kind of jetbrainsy maybe
Jun 2026 · commentLightweight, not Electron-based · 2
Memory usage is highly optimized
Jun 2026 · commentno electron is a bonus too lmao
Jun 2026 · comment
What people warn about
Generic, AI-style UI look · 2
Would it kill you to use a standard native toolkit library rather than whatever black square this is
Jun 2026 · commentThe AI-style CSS that all AI apps have is an instant turn off to me.
Jun 2026 · comment
What hackers pick instead
- JetBrains IDEsLong-time developers praise JetBrains IDEs for deep code intelligence, refactoring, navigation and debugging, but critics cite heavy resource use, buggy recent updates and clumsy AI integration.233recommend
- IntelliJ IDEAThe go-to IDE for Java and Kotlin, praised for built-in refactoring, code navigation and JVM debugging; the common complaint is heavy memory and resource use.206recommend
- Microsoft Visual StudioA full Windows IDE praised for its powerful C++ and C# debugger, code navigation and productive WinForms tooling, though many find it slow, bloated and pushy with Copilot.165recommend
- DelphiRecommended for building native Windows desktop apps very quickly with a visual drag-and-drop designer, though critics complain about aggressive licensing and a company that lost its way.126recommend
- XcodeApple's free IDE, praised by long-time users for strong debugging tools and steadily improving AI agent support, though many find it buggy and tied to recent Macs and macOS.100recommend
Every quote
The 9 most detailed of 10 comments. Each links to the original.
having an app like this to show things in a more contextualized way I think can be extremely useful
Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
i think his UI looks wonderful, props to the creator of this ECS app for sharing it with the world
Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
I can't tell you the number of times I wished someone had built something like this!
Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
this thing looks pretty nice, kind of jetbrainsy maybe
Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
Memory usage is highly optimized
Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
no electron is a bonus too lmao
Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
Would it kill you to use a standard native toolkit library rather than whatever black square this is
Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
The AI-style CSS that all AI apps have is an instant turn off to me.
Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
Having to deal with a separate (electron) app for every AWS service would be a nightmare.
Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Show HN: Mercek – A Desktop IDE for AWS ECS”
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