OpenGL ES
Ranked 7 of 7 graphics APIs by recommenders
Free graphics API that runs on nearly every device. The most common caveat is its hard-to-understand global state.
Free graphics API that runs on nearly every device. The most common caveat is its hard-to-understand global state.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 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
Runs on almost every device
“GLES is the compatibility king and runs pretty much everywhere”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Simplifying Vulkan One Subsystem at a Time” “how OpenGL ES is still better supported”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Learn OpenGL, extensive tutorial resource for learning Modern OpenGL”
Other graphics APIs people recommend
The four most recommended other graphics APIs, 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.
See all 7 graphics APIs, rankedWhat people said
All 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“mostly agree regarding GL's programming model”
“horrible error system means tracking down bugs is hard”
“it's not that relevant any more but also I do believe it's valuable lesson”
“The worst part of GL is the mysterious global state you will never understand without studying the spec.”
“how OpenGL ES is still better supported”
“GLES is the compatibility king and runs pretty much everywhere”
“so many refused to move away from OpenGL ES”
“OpenGL and OpenGL ES were much better in that regard.”
“VAO is the last feature I was missing prior.”
“I like OpenGL ES but the support for compute shaders sucks.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.