# w64devkit

5 Hacker News commenters recommended w64devkit and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A portable, self-contained Windows toolkit with a recent gcc, letting developers build native C and C++ programs without a full Visual Studio install.

## Why people recommend it

- Enjoyable to use (1 comments): "w64devkit is an absolute joy to use, and I'm surprised that it's still not widely adopted by devs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49784258))
- Recent gcc compiler included (1 comments): "32 bit version of w64devkit[1] does target it and provides a recent gcc version." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46641138))
- Neat, useful kit (1 comments): "This is a really neat kit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49781095))
- Easy setup with SDL2 (1 comments): "it's fine too; with just a few PATH settings and SDL2 libraries I could even compile UXN" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47861978))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Fil-C](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fil-c.md): 160 recommend
- [Claude's C Compiler](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-s-c-compiler.md): 39 recommend
- [Visual C++](https://hackerapproved.com/p/visual-c-plus-plus.md): 29 recommend
- [Tiny C Compiler (TCC)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tcc.md): 22 recommend
- [Microsoft Visual C++ compiler (MSVC)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/msvc.md): 20 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "w64devkit", https://hackerapproved.com/p/w64devkit/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).