# Scratch 69 Hacker News commenters recommended Scratch and 14 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 2 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People recommend Scratch as a gentle, block-based way for children to learn programming concepts without syntax, and many say it sparked their lasting interest in computing. Critics say it becomes hard to navigate as projects grow and has a low ceiling. ## Why people recommend it - Sparked lasting interest in coding (8 comments): "I was introduced to Scratch on a field trip as a 5th grader and went home and tinkered with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49526332)) "Scratch taught me how to code, and perhaps a bit of real-world engineering indirectly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49664360)) "I started programming with Scratch and it led to my software-adjacent career today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49524619)) - Lets kids focus on concepts (5 comments): "Scratch lets the syntax get out of the way, so she can focus on the concepts of what the various puzzle pieces do" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47567797)) "Take syntax out of the equation and learn basic variables and looping." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47567313)) "It was a nice way to casually introduce them to programming concepts." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517210)) - Starts instantly in browser (3 comments): "pico8, scratch, even the browser's developer toolbar is more accessible than VSCode" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47428086)) "you can fire up something like Scratch and have things moving almost instantly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48410716)) "fully editable and runnable in a web environment with zero setup" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49671513)) - Blocks snap together like Lego (3 comments): "the block-based approach is a great analogue to building things with Lego" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518505)) "They give the feeling of letting things snap together like lego bricks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49505092)) "he can now program Lego technic with Scratch, no iPad or phone needed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49348428)) ## What people warn about - Limits make it hard to scale (5 comments): "Scratch looks like it has a steeper learning curve and while it is a good introduction to programming, it gets pretty hard to navigate once project size increases." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49345024)) "Scratch is a toy language, with a deliberate ceiling that you can't get past because of the language's design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49667878)) "You can't make a block that returns a number in Scratch, let alone another block." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49674441)) - Kids get bored or dislike it (4 comments): "My kids showed more interest in BASIC GOTO 10 on an emulator than school Scratch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49534112)) "I don't love graphical programming environments like this and Scratch" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49662878)) "Even the kid who later chose a programming career hated Scratch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49346730)) - Account management and ecosystem issues (2 comments): "We do love Scratch but account management is almost worse than something to install." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49844378)) "Scratch's problem is ecosystem. It develops UX for children who are still early to the keyboard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49516793)) - Poor transfer to real coding (2 comments): "I can't imagine exhorting children to learn to code with Scratch (or any other Visual Programming Language) in good faith today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49233062)) "Training wheels actually make it harder to learn how to ride a bike." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517333)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Snap! programming language](https://hackerapproved.com/p/snap-programming-language.md): 9 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Scratch", https://hackerapproved.com/p/scratch/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).