TinyGo
Hacker ApprovedRanked 8 of 26 compilers by recommenders
People recommend it for small binaries and tight WebAssembly on microcontrollers and embedded targets. Main caveat: much of the standard library doesn't compile.
People recommend it for small binaries and tight WebAssembly on microcontrollers and embedded targets. Main caveat: much of the standard library doesn't compile.
26 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 20
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 77%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 20 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Small binaries and tight WASM output
“It generates very tight, pretty high performing WASM, and that allowed me to push all the RDP decoding to the browser side”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Go on Embedded Systems and WebAssembly” “It does indeed produce much smaller binaries, including for macOS.”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Go on Embedded Systems and WebAssembly” “Tinygo in contrast can make awesome small binaries”
Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “Understanding the Go Compiler: The Linker” Enough features for substantial projects
“We're using TinyGo and the Wazero runtime for our WASM plugin system in ServiceRadar”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Go on Embedded Systems and WebAssembly” “Enough are there, however, for some pretty substantial projects.”
Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “Go on Embedded Systems and WebAssembly” Easier to use than C or Rust
“TinyGo is soooooooo much better than working with C/C++ or Rust as an example”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “.NET MAUI is coming to Linux and the browser” “It’s just easier to use Go (TinyGo, actually) instead.”
Comment from 28 Feb 2026 in “Let's Discuss Sandbox Isolation” Minimal runtime suits microcontrollers
“https://tinygo.org/docs/reference/microcontrollers/ is up to date.”
Comment from 7 Jan 2026 in “C Is Best” “Tinygo's runtime was minimal enough to be acceptable.”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Why Go Is an Ideal Language for AI-Assisted Software Engineering”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Much of stdlib missing or broken
“Lot of stdlib, especially net, crypto, in tinygo doesn't compile”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Go on Embedded Systems and WebAssembly” “TinyGo is pure pain when you rely on stdlib”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “LLGo: Go compiler based on LLVM that integrate Go with the C ecosystem” “TinyGo doesnt have networking in WASI”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Go on Embedded Systems and WebAssembly” Brings its own runtime and GC
“they require custom runtimes”
Comment from 24 Dec 2025 in “Map: Operator[] Should Be Nodiscard” “Go and even TinyGo aren't a great fit for Wa because they have to bring along their own runtime including a GC.”
Comment from 8 Nov 2025 in “Local First Htmx” Not fully Go-compatible
“TinyGo is not Go, more Go-like or adjacent”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Why Go Is an Ideal Language for AI-Assisted Software Engineering” “Tinygo is really awesome but I have heard that it has its differences”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Libgodc: Write Go Programs for Sega Dreamcast”
Other compilers people recommend
The four most recommended other compilers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GCC | 138 | 123 | 53% | 12 | 15 yrs9 owners | — |
| Clang | 74 | 50 | 60% | 12 | — | — |
| Free Pascal compiler | 38 | 7 | 84% | 11 | — | Approved |
| GraalVM Native Image | 31 | 9 | 78% | 11 | — | Approved |
| TinyGoThis page | 20 | 6 | 77% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
30 of the 31 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It enables a much simpler path for software-in-the-loop testing.”
“TinyGo is pure pain when you rely on stdlib”
“Tinygo is intended to be a proper Go compiler implementation and has achieved that, aside from the recover situation.”
“TinyGo is not Go, more Go-like or adjacent”
“Tinygo's runtime was minimal enough to be acceptable.”
“Plugins made with tinygo were 10x slower than the same code in rust or c compiled to wasm”
“They have been very responsive in my experience.”
“catch an interrupt and put the info into a channel so that you can think about what is happening in go style”
“Enough are there, however, for some pretty substantial projects.”
“it works when it does and doesn't otherwise”
“It generates very tight, pretty high performing WASM, and that allowed me to push all the RDP decoding to the browser side”
“tinygo makes both of these use cases much more viable than regular go”
“Lot of stdlib, especially net, crypto, in tinygo doesn't compile”
“It gets better every release, but there are missing language features”
“TinyGo doesnt have networking in WASI”
“We're using TinyGo and the Wazero runtime for our WASM plugin system in ServiceRadar”
“It does indeed produce much smaller binaries, including for macOS.”
“TinyGo and TamaGo are also a thing”
“just use tinygo its SO cool”
“It’s just easier to use Go (TinyGo, actually) instead.”
“which is similar to what you seek”
“Tinygo in contrast can make awesome small binaries”
“Try out tinygo, gopherjs, or Go's built in wasm/wasi support for that.”
“https://tinygo.org/docs/reference/microcontrollers/ is up to date.”
“Tinygo is really awesome but I have heard that it has its differences”
“you should check out TinyGo if you haven't already”
“problem is TinyGo uses LLVM, which doesn't support SH-4”
“they require custom runtimes”
“TinyGo is soooooooo much better than working with C/C++ or Rust as an example”
“Go and even TinyGo aren't a great fit for Wa because they have to bring along their own runtime including a GC.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.