WordPerfect
Hacker ApprovedRanked 4 of 14 word processors by recommenders
Fans praise WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS as a fast, rock-solid word processor with Reveal Codes and strong formatting. The most common caveat is its hard-to-learn function-key and keybinding interface.
Fans praise WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS as a fast, rock-solid word processor with Reveal Codes and strong formatting. The most common caveat is its hard-to-learn function-key and keybinding interface.
43 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 36
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 84%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 36 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Unmatched power for writing and formatting
“WP 5.1 has never been equalled as a general-purpose word processor.”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Why the heck are we still using Markdown?” “No word processor has ever bettered WordPerfect 5.1.”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Lotus 1-2-3 on the PC with DOS” “WordPerfect was great for doing lots of formatting”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “WordStar: A Writer's Word Processor (1996)” - Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “What Happened to Gem?”
Reveal Codes shows formatting
“I think WordPerfect was the better doc standard, with visible attribute tags in the text that could be edited.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices” “I still miss the ability to "Reveal Codes" and see exactly where it had placed the non-printing codes”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “WordStar: A Writer's Word Processor (1996)” “The first feature they list is Reveal Codes.”
Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “WriterdeckOS” Fast and responsive
“Lightning-fast apps like WordPerfect, sold on their speed and their device support.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Software may be getting worse, but it used to be horrible” “Rather clunky UI compared to MS Word for DOS, IMHO, but fast.”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI” “was fast and easy to work with”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Intel 486 CPU announced April 10, 1989” Rock-solid and bug-fixed
“WordPerfect fixed bugs for the next four years, and by 1988 was in good shape”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “What Happened to Gem?” “Wordperfect 5.1 was pretty damn rock solid as I recall”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “Thoughts on Slowing the Fuck Down” “invaluable for fixing weird bugs”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: A WYSIWYG word processor in Python”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hard-to-learn function keys and keybindings
“you had to memorize the functions of the F1-F12 keys, as well as their shifted (or Control) behavior”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?” “WordPerfect, by contrast, seemed to require keyboard templates, a manual, a cheat sheet”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “WordStar: A Writer's Word Processor (1996)” “My long-running quarrel with WordPerfect was always the keybindings.”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “WordStar: A Writer's Word Processor (1996)” - Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “What Happened to Gem?”
Weak ports to other platforms
“when WP did arrive on the ST it was a zero effort bad offering, two years late”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “What Happened to Gem?” “it was panned as a horrible port”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “What Happened to Gem?”
Other word processors people recommend
The four most recommended other word processors, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Docs | 144 | 137 | 51% | 13 | 11 yrs4 owners | — |
| Microsoft Word | 129 | 234 | 36% | 12 | 20 yrs5 owners | — |
| Apple Pages | 39 | 27 | 59% | 11 | — | — |
| WordPerfectThis page | 36 | 7 | 84% | 9 | — | Approved |
| LibreOffice Writer | 28 | 7 | 80% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 55 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Lightning-fast apps like WordPerfect, sold on their speed and their device support.”
“WordPerfect’s grammar checker showed me my writing flaws and helped me improve.”
“WordPerfect was great for doing lots of formatting”
“My long-running quarrel with WordPerfect was always the keybindings.”
“I still miss the ability to "Reveal Codes" and see exactly where it had placed the non-printing codes”
“WordPerfect masters being revered, if not more highly compensated, by the average duffer”
“WordPerfect, by contrast, seemed to require keyboard templates, a manual, a cheat sheet”
“claim with some validity that it's still the best for writing prose”
“the exact features that e.g. wordperfect 5.1 had already completely perfected”
“Rather clunky UI compared to MS Word for DOS, IMHO, but fast.”
“I remember MS-DOS + Wordperfect was the beginning.”
“The final DOS WordPerfect works wonderfully on even early 21st century kit.”
“such a pleasant interface for that time”
“Given the restrictions of the day, all three were incredible.”
“if I remember correctly they were read only. you could not close the loop and enter codes.”
“As a big fan of WordPerfect on my first DOS machine”
“I really really really loved WordPerfect”
“Text-mode versions of Wordperfect, Wordstar, and Lotus 1-2-3 were pretty good too.”
“was fast and easy to work with”
“invaluable for fixing weird bugs”
“WP 5.1 has never been equalled as a general-purpose word processor.”
“Wordperfect 5.1 was pretty damn rock solid as I recall”
“I hated all the function keys”
“WordPerfect fixed bugs for the next four years, and by 1988 was in good shape”
“when WP did arrive on the ST it was a zero effort bad offering, two years late”
“Nothing with the power of WordPerfect.”
“it was panned as a horrible port”
“Maybe you should check Wordperfect or WordStar”
“No word processor has ever bettered WordPerfect 5.1.”
“Lawyers were slow to upgrade to more powerful PCs when WordPerfect for DOS was their main use”
“you can then continue the tour with WordPerfect and Borland Turbo Pascal, if you like light blue”
“WordPerfect was always an excellent word processor”
“I think WordPerfect was the better doc standard, with visible attribute tags in the text that could be edited.”
“You could even get common software like WP, Lotus 123”
“There are 3 freeware versions of WordPerfect.”
“WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS was the apex of distraction-free writing”
“The first feature they list is Reveal Codes.”
“Now that looks like the kind of rich text editor I've been looking for”
“This is the main reason I keep my PS/2 around with WordPerfect 5.1”
“you had to memorize the functions of the F1-F12 keys, as well as their shifted (or Control) behavior”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.