# Myna

29 Hacker News commenters recommended Myna and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free monospace typeface with clear, well-aligned symbols that fit more code on screen. Critics say the curly braces look too wavy and l resembles 1.

## Why people recommend it

- Looks attractive and pretty (3 comments): "It looks very pretty regardless!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851388)) "I find it extremely aesthetic." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851573)) "the examples do look great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45860031))
- Denser, more code visible (2 comments): "it looks like it is a more dense monospace than my other ones, so I can actually see more horizontally on my screen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45835150)) "i like the condensed look too but didn't really think about being able to see more code horizontally" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45835245))
- Clear, well-aligned symbols (2 comments): "I really appreciate that the symbols are clear and well-aligned but I do not find the font very attractive or legible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45853653)) "just more condensed and better aligned." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45854560))
- Distinct I and J letters (2 comments): "this font succeeded in making `I` unique - but `l` still looks like "one"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45853633)) "overall I would say it is one of the better fonts I have tried for J" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45852345))

## What people warn about

- Curly braces look too wavy (3 comments): "Font generally looks nice, but I really hate the trend of overly-curly curly braces." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45885438)) "the curly braces look a bit too "wavy" for my taste" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851101)) "I despise this style of curly braces where the arms look more like “S” than like “ʃ”" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850170))
- Uneven symbol height and spacing (3 comments): "The kerning in the "Lorem" at the top drives me batty." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851239)) "Dashes, colons, angle brackets — all look way too high next to lowercase letter." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850094)) "I do hate this asymmetry when I'm trying to do an ASCII flowchart of some sort." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45859895))
- Lowercase l looks like 1 (2 comments): "this font succeeded in making `I` unique - but `l` still looks like "one"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45853633)) "Looks great except for l looking like 1" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850990))
- Visually noisy and hard to read (2 comments): "I really appreciate that the symbols are clear and well-aligned but I do not find the font very attractive or legible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45853653)) "also visually noisy, distracting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45852691))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Iosevka](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iosevka.md): 108 recommend
- [Nordwand Mono](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nordwand-mono.md): 40 recommend
- [Berkeley Mono](https://hackerapproved.com/p/berkeley-mono.md): 27 recommend
- [JetBrains Mono](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jetbrains-mono.md): 23 recommend
- [MonoLisa v3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/monolisa-v3.md): 23 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Myna", https://hackerapproved.com/p/myna-typeface/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).