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PlatformIO

Hacker Approved

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.

Summarized from 33 comments.

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.

recommend
22
criticize
6
months recommended
5 of 13

Why people love it

  • Better than the Arduino IDE · 4

    There is no reason to even touch the Arduino IDE anymore now that PlatformIO is so good.

    Dec 2025 · comment

    working in VSCode on the code is much more to my liking than the separate Arduino IDE

    Dec 2025 · comment

    VS Code/PlatformIO actually makes that easier than the Arduino IDE

    Nov 2025 · comment
  • Works well inside VS Code · 3

    VSCode with the PlatformIO extension has been great for me when working with them

    Nov 2025 · comment

    Those of us that care have switched to VS Code + PlatformIO.

    Nov 2025 · comment

    Get VSCode and install PlatformIO extension. Its way better

    Nov 2025 · comment
  • Plain-text config files · 2

    way better experience, and you can actually have all your important config in normal text files

    Nov 2025 · comment

    even in embedded C, you have platformio which manages to make due with a few .ini files

    Apr 2026 · comment
  • Easy to start and program · 2

    find it much easier to program an MCU this way

    Dec 2025 · comment

    Getting started is really easy.

    Nov 2025 · comment

What people warn about

  • Arduino 3 library incompatibility · 2

    Unfortunately Arduino 3 support isn't there yet so a lot of libraries like HomeSpan won't work on PlatformIO at the moment.

    Nov 2025 · comment

    a Library only compatible with Arduino 3.0.0 which is incompatible with PlatformIO

    Nov 2025 · comment
  • Some boards lack support · 2

    platformio with Arduino framework IS! RPi refuses to support platformio sadly

    Dec 2025 · comment

    because they refuse to update the Arduino core in some kind of stand-off with Espressif

    Apr 2026 · comment
  • Seen as complex and bloated · 2

    I can't stand all the bloat of Arduino/Platform.io/ESPHome

    Jul 2026 · comment

    Platformio is not simple by any means.

    Apr 2026 · comment

What hackers pick instead

Every quote

The 31 most detailed of 33 comments. Each links to the original.

  1. Unfortunately Arduino 3 support isn't there yet so a lot of libraries like HomeSpan won't work on PlatformIO at the moment.

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”

  2. way better experience, and you can actually have all your important config in normal text files

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”

  3. There is no reason to even touch the Arduino IDE anymore now that PlatformIO is so good.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”

  4. even in embedded C, you have platformio which manages to make due with a few .ini files

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “I built a Cargo-like build tool for C/C++”

  5. working in VSCode on the code is much more to my liking than the separate Arduino IDE

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”

  6. a Library only compatible with Arduino 3.0.0 which is incompatible with PlatformIO

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”

  7. VSCode with the PlatformIO extension has been great for me when working with them

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”

  8. platformio with Arduino framework IS! RPi refuses to support platformio sadly

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”

  9. VS Code/PlatformIO actually makes that easier than the Arduino IDE

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”

  10. Those of us that care have switched to VS Code + PlatformIO.

    Recommends · Nov 2025

  11. Get VSCode and install PlatformIO extension. Its way better

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”

  12. find it much easier to program an MCU this way

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”

  13. Getting started is really easy.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”

  14. because they refuse to update the Arduino core in some kind of stand-off with Espressif

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “ESP32-S31: 320MHz 2C RV32IMAFCP+CLIC, 512KB SRAM, GbE, 802.11ax, 61 GPIO”

  15. I can't stand all the bloat of Arduino/Platform.io/ESPHome

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Arduino Launches Plug-and-Play Modules for Long-Range Sensor Projects”

  16. Platformio is not simple by any means.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “I built a Cargo-like build tool for C/C++”

  17. I use the Arduino framework and PlatformIO to make the flashing/dependency management part easier

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Show HN: I wrote a small lib to turn a USB gamepad into a Bluetooth one”

  18. Many don't publish outside the marketplace for example Platformio.

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Astral to Join OpenAI”

  19. Can’t recommend it enough. Faster startup. Repeatable builds.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”

  20. they should pivot to contributing to PlatformIO instead

    Recommends · Nov 2025

  21. PIO + esp-IDF is the only way I write ESP firmware.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”

  22. will give you a better experience in so many ways

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”

  23. Recently I've switched to Platformio for coding.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”

  24. If you do embedded development, things like

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “VSCode rebrands as "The open source AI code editor"”

  25. platformio which has a dedicated community

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”

  26. the decision to use uv and platformio

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't”

  27. PlatformIO by the way is excellent

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”

  28. Look at how PlatformIO does it.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “FPGAs Need a New Future”

  29. I would say that's a PIO bug unless there is a flag I don't know about

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Stop Breaking TLS”

  30. both of these are hobbyist toys to make it more approachable

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “VSCode rebrands as "The open source AI code editor"”

  31. There's no point in using PlatformIO for ESP32 MCUs.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “ESP32-C3 Adblock”

Counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, Nov 2025 to Nov 2026. How we count · Report a mistake