# Qt Widgets

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Qt Widgets and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for consistent, native-looking desktop apps and fast development with C++ or PySide; critics say it feels dated and is in maintenance mode.

## What people warn about

- Looks and feels dated (3 comments): "Qt Widgets is fantastic, but now dated since it has not been updated for the modern world." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46429447)) "looked like a piece of software made in 2013" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47662354)) "the buttons look like something out of Windows 3.1" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48725281))
- Little active development (2 comments): "QtWidgets is extremely good though, even if it is effectively in maintenance mode." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47893933)) "receiving performance enhancements and updates and widgets is not, and has not for some time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46421811))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Qt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qt.md): 191 recommend
- [GTK](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gtk.md): 85 recommend
- [Windows Forms](https://hackerapproved.com/p/winforms.md): 76 recommend
- [SwiftUI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/swiftui.md): 75 recommend
- [Tcl/Tk](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tcl-tk.md): 61 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Qt Widgets", https://hackerapproved.com/p/qt-widgets/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).