I’ve been maintaining my own Neovim config for years. Last month I tried LazyVim. Here’s what I actually think.

The Landscape in 2026

Three paths into Neovim: roll your own (what I did and documented here), use kickstart.nvim (~30k stars, a single-file starting point you own and modify), or use LazyVim (~25k stars, a full distro that ships already working).

I’ve been in the first camp. But I wanted to understand what I was comparing against.

What LazyVim Actually Is

LazyVim is built on lazy.nvim - the same plugin manager I already use. The difference is it ships a complete, opinionated config on top: LSP, treesitter, formatters, keymaps - all pre-wired, all working on first launch.

It’s not just installed. It ships working.

What It Gets Right That I Got Wrong

The extras system. This is the thing I didn’t expect to be impressed by. Want TypeScript support? Add lang.typescript to your extras. That one line pulls in the right LSP, the right formatter, the right linter - already configured to work together. My config has this scattered across multiple files, assembled over years of hunting for the right combination. LazyVim just has it.

-- lazyvim.json
{
  "extras": [
    "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.typescript",
    "lazyvim.plugins.extras.lang.json",
    "lazyvim.plugins.extras.formatting.prettier"
  ]
}

Keymaps are consistent and documented. My hand-rolled config has keymaps I added at different points in my life and haven’t touched since. Some conflict, some do nothing, some I genuinely don’t remember mapping. LazyVim’s keymaps follow a logical pattern and are documented at lazyvim.org. <leader> + category + action. That’s it.

The update story. When I update plugins in my config, I’m flying blind on compatibility. LazyVim manages the dependency graph - plugin versions are tested together before a release. Less “why did this break today.”

What Hand-Rolled Gets Right

You know every line. When something breaks in my config, I know exactly where to look. When something breaks in LazyVim - and it will - you’re debugging someone else’s abstractions. That’s a real cost.

Muscle memory is also real. LazyVim’s opinionated keymaps will fight years of habits. My H/L remaps, my jk escape, my whole mental model of what <leader>f does - none of that transfers cleanly.

Who Should Use LazyVim

Start with LazyVim if you’re new to Neovim, or if you’re spending more than 30 minutes a month debugging your config. The extras system alone will save hours of LSP archaeology.

Stick with your own if you’re productive and actually understand what you’ve built. The “knowing every line” thing isn’t nothing - it compounds over time.

What I Actually Did

I installed LazyVim fresh (back up ~/.config/nvim, then git clone https://github.com/LazyVim/starter ~/.config/nvim). First 30 minutes: everything worked. LSP, treesitter, formatting - no setup. I enabled lang.typescript, lazygit, and formatting.prettier first.

Then I spent two days slowly missing my own keymaps. The extras were great. The muscle memory fights were exhausting. I went back to my config.

That’s not a knock on LazyVim - it’s genuinely good. If I were starting fresh today, I’d start there. But migrating mid-career costs more than it saves.

If you want AI on top of any of this, check out what I found with avante.nvim and CodeCompanion.