# GNU nano

52 Hacker News commenters recommended GNU nano and 18 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 15 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Simple, lightweight terminal editor that shows its keybinds on screen and suits quick edits and config files. Critics say it lacks power for heavy editing.

## Why people recommend it

- Quick edits in the terminal (7 comments): "Nano is my go-to whenever doing something quick in the terminal. It's quick, I don't need to learn how to use it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45810866)) "nano is great though, I can recommend it for quick ad-hoc editing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45832947)) "nano remains my go-to editor for many quick terminal operations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45811569))
- Simple and easy to use (6 comments): "Nano is my go-to whenever doing something quick in the terminal. It's quick, I don't need to learn how to use it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45810866)) "I have worked somewhat with nano just out of curiosity and it was a decent experience." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47286703)) "nano is simpler and it doesn't teach you by holding you hostage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46975988))
- Small and lightweight (3 comments): "Debian started bundling nano instead of vim because nano is smaller (and easier to quit)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46948272)) "For the absolute lightweight, there is vi, eMacs, nano, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47154791)) "So freaking cool..in just 200 (190 actually) lines." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48165512))
- Shows keybinds on screen (3 comments): "you get in, it tells you what all the relevant keybinds are right on the screen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45813306)) "Nano not powerful, but it is friendly, it shows you its keybinds." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47272405)) "Nano always shows most important (all?) hotkeys on the screen." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49489290))

## What people warn about

- Confusing for newcomers (2 comments): "Every time I get launched into nano/pico on a new system I find it very confusing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50289992)) "I don't think nano is particulary beginner-friendly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50298429))
- Not powerful enough for heavy use (2 comments): "they fall under the level of being useful and only cripple and slow me down" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47212789)) "Nano not powerful, but it is friendly, it shows you its keybinds." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47272405))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Zed](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zed.md): 700 recommend
- [GNU Emacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/emacs.md): 648 recommend
- [Vim](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vim.md): 513 recommend
- [Visual Studio Code](https://hackerapproved.com/p/visual-studio-code.md): 485 recommend
- [Neovim](https://hackerapproved.com/p/neovim.md): 295 recommend

## Cite as

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