How can I pit cherries easily and neatly?
This is one of the rare cases where I tolerate unitaskers in my kitchen:

A hand-held cherry pitter like in the photo below (or a similar model) needs little space in a drawer and works for olives as well. Unless you plan to pit cherries by the bushel, it is totally sufficient.

 (Source)

For a more "hacky" aporoach, some use a bent open paperclip, but I find them too flimsy and hard to grab. A classic hairpin is a lot sturdier:



Push it in from the stem end, circle the stone to separate it from the flesh and pull / pop the stone out. 

If your cherries need not be whole, cutting them half open with a paring knife is an option, use the same technique you'd use for pitting plums. But it's a bit of a fiddly work and, unlike with the methods above, you risk cutting yourself because the juice makes the fruit, the knife and your fingers slippery.