Roo Code: what 17 developers actually say.

Open source · IDE extension · Updated Nov 2026

17 Hacker News opinions from 9 developers, Nov 2025 – Nov 2026. 15 come from people who say they use it. Here is what they praise, what they complain about, and who switched.

17 opinions9 developersNov 2025 – Nov 2026Methodology

Approval

79%

±16.3 at 90% confidence

Last 90 days

–

No recent data

Rank

of 22 tools · CI-adjusted

Opinions

15 first-hand

Developers

1.9 opinions each

The short version

The case for Roo Code, in one paragraph.

Roo Code earns 79% approval across 17 opinions. Developers are divided on it.

Visit Roo Code ↗See comparisons →

Pick it if you

Want to customize prompts and tools (3 positive mentions, no negatives)
Prefer agent modes over plain plan and act
Want to switch model providers mid-task and keep your setup

Look elsewhere if you

Need a project with active maintenance; two comments call it retired
Want a broad VS Code experience; one user found it limited and frustrating
Apply complex diffs with weaker models; one user reported looping

Where it wins and loses.

Mentions across 17 opinions. Bars are counts, not votes; a tool can be both praised and criticized on the same topic.

TopicComplaints ← → PraiseMentions

PraiseComplaint

0 topics shown · sorted by net sentiment · source: 17 opinions

View data table

Topic	Praise	Complaints	Mentions

How opinion has moved.

Monthly approval, Jan 2026 – Apr 2026. Bars show opinion volume; low-volume months are still included but faded.

Not enough monthly data for a trend yet.

What developers say.

Summaries are paraphrased. Each links to the original Hacker News comment.

Praise

4 selected

They personally liked Roo Code more than Kilo Code, though Roo Code was retired.

HN comment · Jun 5, 2026Read on HN ↗

Liked Roo Code's UI/UX a lot, though the project has been retired.

HN comment · May 20, 2026Read on HN ↗

They liked Roo Code more than Cline and Kilo Code in VS Code, and regrets its loss.

HN comment · Apr 30, 2026Read on HN ↗

Customization

Roo Code was somewhat better than Cline because it offered more customization of prompts and tools.

HN comment · Apr 28, 2026Read on HN ↗

Complaints

3 selected

Finds Roo Code's VS Code experience extremely limited and frustrating.

HN comment · Apr 6, 2026Read on HN ↗

Reliability

Roo Code can't guide models well enough, so they loop when applying complex diffs.

HN comment · Dec 9, 2025Read on HN ↗

Cost & pricing

Roo Code has major token-utilization problems.

HN comment · Apr 22, 2026Read on HN ↗

Questions developers ask.

Is Roo Code worth it?

The data gives it 79% approval across 17 opinions, with customization as its strongest aspect. Two comments say the project was retired, so confirm its current status before adopting it.

Is Roo Code better than Cline?

Two comments preferred Roo Code over Cline, citing more customization of prompts and tools. Two others preferred it over Kilo Code. No comment named a preferred alternative to Roo Code.

Does Roo Code work well in VS Code?

UX mentions split 2 positive to 1 negative. One user called the VS Code experience limited and frustrating, while another said it worked there while the Codex extension froze.

The data behind this page.

Developers give Roo Code 79% approval across 17 opinions from 9 authors, and 15 of those opinions are firsthand. Customization is the clearest strength, with 3 positive mentions and no negatives. UX and reliability each draw 2 positive and 1 negative mention. Monthly approval swung from 25% in December 2025 to 100% in January 2026 and 60% on 5 opinions in April 2026, and two comments describe the project as retired.

Every number comes from public Hacker News comments collected through the HN Search API. A language model tagged each comment for sentiment, first-hand use, topic and switches; a human spot-checks samples. No vendor can pay for placement.

20,064 comments screened17 about Roo Code15 first-hand

Read the full methodology →