# Verilator

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

6 people recommended Verilator in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 6 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, fast SystemVerilog simulator that compiles hardware designs to C++, and people call it indispensable for larger designs. Its steep learning curve is the main caveat.

Summary written by Claude from 11 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 8 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Faster than other simulators (2 comments in the sample): "it was excellent, substantially faster than Yosys" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47472723)) "It's faster than anything else, and it is free." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46340298))
- Great and indispensable for large designs (2 comments in the sample): "Verilator (which is indispensable in larger designs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46341084)) "Verilator is great though" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49982739))

## What people warn about

- Steep learning curve, unhelpful parse errors (1 comment in the sample): "Verilator's parse errors are not designed as a Verilog tutorial" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49747613))
- Occasional miscompilation (1 comment in the sample): "I gave up on Verilator support in a previous company when we ran into a plain miscompilation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47052991))

## 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, "Verilator", https://hackerapproved.com/p/verilator/ (6 recommend, 2 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

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