# Tomato firmware

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/tomato/

5 people recommended Tomato firmware in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free router firmware that people recommend for WireGuard use and as preferred over DD-WRT. Some are wary of its track record.

Summary written by Claude from 5 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 4 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Works well with WireGuard (1 comment in the sample): "I found good success with OpenWRT/Tomato and WireGuard." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47618941))
- Preferred over DD-WRT (1 comment in the sample): "DDWRT and Tomato are much better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48142891))

## What people warn about

- Doubts about its track record (1 comment in the sample): "I would not trust OpenWRT or Tomato or whatever with that track record." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50016522))
- Only hedged praise (1 comment in the sample): "maaaaaaybe one of the nicer Tomato forks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50056727))

## Other router firmware people recommend

- [OpenWrt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openwrt/): 139 recommend, 19 mixed, 30 criticize
- [OPNsense](https://hackerapproved.com/p/opnsense/): 58 recommend, 10 mixed, 13 criticize
- [pfSense](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pfsense/): 22 recommend, 4 mixed, 15 criticize
- [MikroTik RouterOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mikrotik-routeros/): 15 recommend, 1 mixed, 7 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, "Tomato firmware", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tomato/ (5 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.