MOS 6502
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 4 microprocessors
Recommended for a simple, minimal design that is easy to learn and joyful to program in assembly. Critics find it limiting, especially after writing Z80 code.
Recommended for a simple, minimal design that is easy to learn and joyful to program in assembly. Critics find it limiting, especially after writing Z80 code.
33 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 28
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 12 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: 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: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 28 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 12 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
Simple, minimal, easy to learn
“the CPU is simple enough to quickly grasp all important concepts, and it is still available”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Need Help Learning Assembly” “Simple architecture and really really joyful to use”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “LLVM-MOS – Clang LLVM fork targeting the 6502” “I was luck to learn asm on a very simple 8 bit CPU”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “My application programmer instincts failed when debugging assembler” - Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “LT6502: A 6502-based homebrew laptop”
- Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Comparing the Z80 and 6502 to Their Relatives”
- Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Comparing the Z80 and 6502 to Their Relatives”
Fun and joyful to program
“Most fun I ever had with a 6502 was when I realized that, at 1 MHz, I could do 250,000 average instructions per second.”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Eight More 8-bit Era Microprocessors (2024)” “I find programming for the 6502 to be a joy in a way that the Z80 isn't”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Comparing the Z80 and 6502 to Their Relatives” “Simple architecture and really really joyful to use”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “LLVM-MOS – Clang LLVM fork targeting the 6502” Historically important, long-lived chip
“The through-line was the 6502, which retains a place in my heart even today.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Happy 50th Birthday KIM-1” “it became legendary, and begat a computer revolution”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “Laptop Based on 6502 CPU” “the 6502 existed in 1980 and showed the way”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “RISC-V: They Should Have Known Better” - Comment from 27 Apr 2026 in “The Visible Zorker: Zork 1”
- Comment from 9 May 2026 in “PC Engine CPU”
- Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “planckforth: Bootstrapping a Forth interpreter from hand-written tiny ELF binary”
- Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “The IBM PC, Part 1: Arrival”
Powerful zero page addressing
“the 6502's 256 Zero page locations — any pair of which can hold a pointer you can index off — is far superior”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “Z80 – The 1970s Microprocessor Still Alive (2021)” “for anything complicated the 6502's 256 Zero page locations is far superior”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “Z80 – The 1970s Microprocessor Still Alive (2021)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Limiting architecture compared to alternatives
“I found the 6502 a bit limiting after writing z80 for a bit”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Comparing the Z80 and 6502 to Their Relatives” “on every other axis the 6502 sucked”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “LLVM-MOS – Clang LLVM fork targeting the 6502”
Other microprocessors people recommend
The three most recommended other microprocessors, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOS 6502This page | 28 | 5 | 85% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Zilog Z80 | 21 | 10 | 68% | 7 | 23 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Motorola 68000 | 17 | 5 | 77% | 9 | — | Approved |
| NEC V20 | 9 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 40 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the 6502 had some absolutely amazing software written for it”
“6502/6510 was the only true CPU back then!”
“it became legendary, and begat a computer revolution”
“the 6502 could just get more "video game" type work done in a clock cycle than a 68000.”
“sure the instruction was really really simple, but juggling was not”
“6502 is fun but coupling it to a RP2040 takes most of that fun away again”
“not the joke that 6502 was!”
“neither open sourced so you can build one nor commercialized so you can buy one”
“the 6502's 256 Zero page locations — any pair of which can hold a pointer you can index off — is far superior”
“for anything complicated the 6502's 256 Zero page locations is far superior”
“the 6502 existed in 1980 and showed the way”
“the CPU is simple enough to quickly grasp all important concepts, and it is still available”
“the chips are cheap and overall availability is good”
“the brilliant 6502 (1975)”
“The 6809 (and its clone the 6502) would also be strong contendors.”
“The benefits of being able to do stuff like this when you need to conserve resources are obvious”
“one of the things that made the 6502 nice”
“Most fun I ever had with a 6502 was when I realized that, at 1 MHz, I could do 250,000 average instructions per second.”
“the 6502 was a beast of a CPU”
“this is so easy and so valuable to learn!”
“I found the 6502 a bit limiting after writing z80 for a bit”
“It feels like a refined, minimal design”
“I find programming for the 6502 to be a joy in a way that the Z80 isn't”
“Programming assembly on the Z80 just is less of a fight.”
“It was such a key workhorse chip.”
“which takes 6502 to another level entirely”
“I was luck to learn asm on a very simple 8 bit CPU”
“The 6502 was a little gem.”
“It's minimal but you have everything you need.”
“using the 6502 as a microcontroller, not just a microcomputer, has kept it alive for decades”
“brought the best out in the programmers that used it”
“The through-line was the 6502, which retains a place in my heart even today.”
“were small but soooo convenient things in the 65C02”
“needs RAM and some glue logic”
“on every other axis the 6502 sucked”
“the 6502 is definitely great”
“Simple architecture and really really joyful to use”
“Multiplication instructions and hash tables (!) are easily worked around, as evidenced by decades of art and innovation”
“any architecture that does not pretend/map/table/proxy/ringaway anything”
“Bare metal programming with those old CPUs is WAY easier than learning new web stack IMO.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.