# which-key 13 Hacker News commenters recommended which-key and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Popup that lists available keybindings and descriptions as you type a key prefix, helping you navigate large key chord hierarchies in Neovim and Emacs. ## Why people recommend it - Shows keybinding hints as you type (3 comments): "You do have that somewhat with packages like which-key that will show you a menu of options every time you press a key." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47319567)) "very popular plugin for neovim that shows a popup with possible keybinds and descriptions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46704124)) "hints come as you stutter on what to press next" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482508)) - Staple in many Emacs setups (4 comments): "Lots of nice built-in packages like modus themes, eglot, which-key." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273918)) "I couldn't live without the emacs version of which-key" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49483102)) "packages like embark, which-key, transient" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47334390)) - Helps find commands quickly (2 comments): "Check out whichkey and/or command line completion to find those commands easier" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46873594)) "a quick key to pop up a command palette" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48367759)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Evil mode for Emacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/evil-mode.md): 39 recommend - [TRAMP for Emacs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tramp.md): 25 recommend - [SLIME](https://hackerapproved.com/p/slime.md): 19 recommend - [Vertico](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vertico.md): 18 recommend - [Eglot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/eglot.md): 16 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "which-key", https://hackerapproved.com/p/which-key/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).