# PlatformIO

22 Hacker News commenters recommended PlatformIO and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for making embedded firmware easier, with flashing, dependency management and plain-text config files in VS Code. Common caveat: Arduino 3 support lags, so some libraries do not work.

## Why people recommend it

- Better than the Arduino IDE (4 comments): "There is no reason to even touch the Arduino IDE anymore now that PlatformIO is so good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46278919)) "working in VSCode on the code is much more to my liking than the separate Arduino IDE" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46280191)) "VS Code/PlatformIO actually makes that easier than the Arduino IDE" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45988656))
- Works well inside VS Code (3 comments): "VSCode with the PlatformIO extension has been great for me when working with them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45986002)) "Those of us that care have switched to VS Code + PlatformIO." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45801921)) "Get VSCode and install PlatformIO extension. Its way better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45985279))
- Plain-text config files (2 comments): "way better experience, and you can actually have all your important config in normal text files" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45984823)) "even in embedded C, you have platformio which manages to make due with a few .ini files" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47714417))
- Easy to start and program (2 comments): "find it much easier to program an MCU this way" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46272979)) "Getting started is really easy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45987877))

## What people warn about

- Arduino 3 library incompatibility (2 comments): "Unfortunately Arduino 3 support isn't there yet so a lot of libraries like HomeSpan won't work on PlatformIO at the moment." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46008084)) "a Library only compatible with Arduino 3.0.0 which is incompatible with PlatformIO" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46008166))
- Some boards lack support (2 comments): "platformio with Arduino framework IS! RPi refuses to support platformio sadly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46277698)) "because they refuse to update the Arduino core in some kind of stand-off with Espressif" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633333))
- Seen as complex and bloated (2 comments): "I can't stand all the bloat of Arduino/Platform.io/ESPHome" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48990695)) "Platformio is not simple by any means." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47716385))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [JetBrains IDEs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jetbrains-ides.md): 233 recommend
- [IntelliJ IDEA](https://hackerapproved.com/p/intellij-idea.md): 206 recommend
- [Microsoft Visual Studio](https://hackerapproved.com/p/visual-studio.md): 165 recommend
- [Delphi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/delphi.md): 126 recommend
- [Xcode](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xcode.md): 100 recommend

## Cite as

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