Whetuu
Ranked 3 of 3 shell prompts by recommenders
Free, zero-config cross-shell prompt that people call a non-Rust alternative to Starship. Common caveat: it takes over shell history, which some users dislike.
Free, zero-config cross-shell prompt that people call a non-Rust alternative to Starship. Common caveat: it takes over shell history, which some users dislike.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 55%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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
Works well for daily use
“It works well, though I've modified it to use red/green alternative colors.”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Whetuu – a zero-config cross-shell prompt written in Zig” “I now use on a daily basis”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Whetuu – a zero-config cross-shell prompt written in Zig”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Shell history integration unwanted
“I liked the idea of this but had no interest in the shell history integration”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Whetuu – a zero-config cross-shell prompt written in Zig” “It does hijacks shell history.”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Whetuu – a zero-config cross-shell prompt written in Zig” Opinionated with little real benefit
“seemed overly, well opinionated for no meaningful performance or otherwise improvement to any other simple prompt”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Whetuu – a zero-config cross-shell prompt written in Zig” “that sounds strictly worse than what you get by default from the shell”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Whetuu – a zero-config cross-shell prompt written in Zig” Install script piped to shell
“i really don't see the point of the install script”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Whetuu – a zero-config cross-shell prompt written in Zig” “please stop piping into bash or sh”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Whetuu – a zero-config cross-shell prompt written in Zig”
Other shell prompts people recommend
The two most recommended other shell prompts, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starship prompt | 11 | 3 | 79% | 4 | — | Approved |
| oh-my-posh | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| WhetuuThis page | 6 | 5 | 55% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“excellent, non-rust alternative to starship”
“I liked the idea of this but had no interest in the shell history integration”
“i really don't see the point of the install script”
“It does hijacks shell history.”
“the tool doesn't hijack the shell history at all”
“that sounds strictly worse than what you get by default from the shell”
“seemed overly, well opinionated for no meaningful performance or otherwise improvement to any other simple prompt”
“please stop piping into bash or sh”
“It works well, though I've modified it to use red/green alternative colors.”
“I now use on a daily basis”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.