# Pluto.jl

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/pluto-jl/

13 people recommended Pluto.jl in Hacker News comments, 8 had mixed feelings and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

8 of the 13 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Pluto.jl 1.0 release – reactive notebook for Julia”.

**Verdict:** Reactive Julia notebook that updates dependent cells automatically, keeping state consistent for exploratory work; some with mixed feelings cite fixed output placement and a new environment each session.

Summary written by Claude from the comments below.

## Why people recommend it

- Enjoyable for exploration and learning (5 comments in the sample): "Pluto has been quite nice for me to use over the last few years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48379869)) "was one of those exercises that actually were fun and educative" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48381446)) "Pluto is designed specifically for it, and is lovely." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50057257))
- Reactive updates between dependent cells (4 comments in the sample): "The way Pluto handles dependencies between code cells is really just so nice." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45893688)) "Pluto.jl and Marimo solve that by using reactivity to make state transparent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49042163)) "Pluto’s reactivity eliminates this issue altogether." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48386971))
- Handles state and compilation well (1 comment in the sample): "It runs all sorts of compilations in the background, as well as handles state much better for Julia." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47081782))

## What people warn about

- Output shown above command, no toggle (2 comments in the sample): "I also would like if they gave you a toggle option to display the output below the code boxes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48379746)) "the output of a command being shown above the command that creates it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48379451))
- Creates a new environment each session (2 comments in the sample): "I like Pluto, what is a small annoyance is it creates a new environment in each session" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48382066)) "isn't that just a `Pkg.activate` away?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48386813))

## Other computational notebooks people recommend

- [marimo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/marimo/): 49 recommend, 2 mixed, 7 criticize
- [Jupyter Notebook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jupyter/): 43 recommend, 20 mixed, 37 criticize
- [Google Colab](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-colab/): 13 recommend, 3 mixed, 6 criticize
- [Deepnote](https://hackerapproved.com/p/deepnote/): 7 recommend, 5 mixed, 16 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Pluto.jl", https://hackerapproved.com/p/pluto-jl/ (13 recommend, 8 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.