# ZFSBootMenu

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

11 people recommended ZFSBootMenu in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 12 months, in 11 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for snapshot rollback and recovery outside the main OS, though critics say it only boots Linux kernels.

Summary written by Claude from 18 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 16 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Praised as easy and well liked (5 comments in the sample): "I switched to ZFS with ZFSBootMenu[2] and never looked back." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46473149)) "ZFSBootMenu and Alpine are a beautiful match." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48562162)) "ZFSBootMenu is easier and better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45925319))
- Snapshot rollback and full restores (3 comments in the sample): "So that backups are easy, snapshots are cheap, and when the inevitable happens, it takes a few minutes to reboot and roll back." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45865222)) "the ability to roll back to snapshots and restore/maintenance disks from outside of the primary operating system" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49663841)) "I personally also use ZFSBootMenu which lets you clone an old snapshot if e.g. the kernel breaks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47837308))
- Comparable to FreeBSD boot tools (2 comments in the sample): "I would switch to BSD before i would use linux again without a competent bootmanager and filesystem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47848288)) "ZFSBootMenu is a Linux oriented solution that replicates the power of FreeBSD's bootloader" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46045964))
- Recovery tools outside the main OS (1 comment in the sample): "offers remote SSH access with FDE in addition to snapshots in case of update falures or other issues" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47273100))

## Other bootloaders people recommend

- [systemd-boot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/systemd-boot/): 10 recommend, 3 mixed, 0 criticize
- [OpenCore](https://hackerapproved.com/p/opencore/): 6 recommend, 2 mixed, 0 criticize
- [U-Boot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/u-boot/): 5 recommend, 3 mixed, 2 criticize

## 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, "ZFSBootMenu", https://hackerapproved.com/p/zfsbootmenu/ (11 recommend, 1 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.