Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

Pure-C is a C back end for PureScript, a strongly typed functional programming language that compiles to JavaScript. This tool enables PureScript developers to compile their code to C instead, expanding the language's… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Announcing Pure-C: A C back end for PureScript launched in 2018; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   ScrapScript – A tiny functional language for sharable software▲503

   Hi friends, I started casually working on scrapscript in 2015. I built a few compilers over the years to test out various ideas/implementations, and I think I'm finally happy with the overall design. The code is not public yet. Email me at [email protected] if you're interested in joining the core team later this year. Let me know if you have any questions or feedback :)

   2023 · scrapscript.org · its alternatives →

2. 2
   A work-in-progress C compiler from scratch▲159

   Programming language that compiles into a x86 ELF executable. - riicchhaarrd/ocean

   2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   I built a web framework in C▲420

   a lightweight web framework in c. Contribute to ashtonjamesd/lavandula development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Lambda-8cc – An x86 C compiler written in untyped lambda calculus▲249

   x86 C compiler written in untyped lambda calculus. Contribute to woodrush/lambda-8cc development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Chan – pure C implementation of Go channels▲150

   Pure C implementation of Go channels. Contribute to tylertreat/chan development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   The C3 programming language (C alternative language)▲175

   Get it from here: https://github.com/c3lang/c3c In 2019, while contributing to the C2 language, I started up "C3" as a pet project while waiting for pull requests to be approved... Now it's 6 years later and C3 well on its way to 1.0, having released 0.7.0 last week. Unlike other C alternatives, C3 tries to evolve C – but without concern to backwards compatibility to the latter. What it adds to C is among other things: - Module system - Semantic macros and compile time introspection - Lightweight generic modules - Zero overhead errors - Build-in slices and SIMD types -…

   2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Bic – a C interpreter and API explorer▲181

   A C interpreter and API explorer. Contribute to hexagonal-sun/bic development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   A dynamic C (Hot reloading) module-based Web Framework▲128

   A modular web framework for C, inspired by kernel modules. Dynamically upload and compile C code at runtime to build REST APIs, WebSocket services, and more. Includes support for JSON (Jansson), SQLite, OpenSSL, and streaming large data efficiently. - joexbayer/c-web-modules

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   A pure C89 implementation of Go channels, with blocking selects▲271

   A pure C (-std=c89) implementation of Go channels, including blocking and non-blocking selects. - GitHub - rochus-keller/CspChan: A pure C (-std=c89) implementation of Go channels, including blocking and non-blocking selects.

   2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10CA
    C3 – A C alternative that looks like C▲182

    Compiler link: https://github.com/c3lang/c3c Docs: http://www.c3-lang.org This is my follow-up "Show HN" from roughly a year ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27876570). Since then the language design has evolved and the compiler has gotten much more solid. Assorted extra info: - The C3 name is a homage to the C2 language project (http://c2lang.org) which it was originally inspired by. - Although C3 mostly conforms to C syntax, the most obvious change is requiring `fn` in front of the functions. This is to simplify searching for…

    2022 · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Bolt – A super-fast, statically-typed scripting language written in C▲261

    I've built many interpreters over the years, and Bolt represents my attempt at building the scripting language I always wanted. This is the first public release, 0.1.0! I've felt like most embedded languages have been moving towards safety and typing over years, with things like Python type hints, the explosive popularity of typescript, and even typing in Luau, which powers one of the largest scripted evironments in the world. Bolt attempts to harness this directly in the lagnauge rather than as a preprocessing step, and reap benefits in terms of both safety and performance. I intend to be…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Compiling C in the browser using WebAssembly▲174

    We’ve reached a major milestone in making any software run with WebAssembly. Thanks to the newest release of Wasmer (4.4) and the Wasmer JS SDK (0.8.0) ...

    2024 · wasmer.io · its alternatives →

13. 13GI
    Going into freshman year, figured I should build an interpreter▲138

    Hi all! I'm going into my freshman year, and figured that the best way to prepare for the intro to programming Racket course would be to implement my own garbage-collected, dynamically typed, functional programming language in C ;) Anyways... here's the repo: https://github.com/liam-ilan/crumb I started learning C over the summer, so I still have a whole lot to learn... Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! :D

    2023 · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Prometeo – a Python-to-C transpiler for high-performance computing▲166

    An experimental Python-to-C transpiler and domain specific language for embedded high-performance computing - zanellia/prometeo

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

15. 15PW
    Programming with Pure Lambda Calculus▲61

    Functional programming language based on pure de Bruijn indexed lambda calculus.

    2023 · bruijn.marvinborner.de · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Pure C WebRTC implementation for embedded devices▲251

    Amazon Kinesis Video Streams Webrtc SDK is for developers to install and customize realtime communication between devices and enable secure streaming of video, audio to Kinesis Video Streams. - awslabs/amazon-kinesis-video-streams-webrtc-sdk-c

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    My C compiler compiled itself▲275

    One of the most challenging projects of my life :)

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    C# 6.0 Functional Language Extensions▲164

    C# pure functional programming framework - come and get declarative! - louthy/language-ext

    2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Pure C Asynchronous HTTP Framework▲80

    Asynchronous C networking library with HTTP server, WebSockets, reverse proxy, HTTP/2 gRPC client, TLS and event loop. - Softmotions/iwnet

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    How to compile C/C++ for WASM, pure Clang, no libs, no framework▲217

    A little help for programmers, who wants to run C/C++ code in the browser. (This is my second attempt to show it, first time I got banned bcoz of my personal page domain, I don't really understand it why is is suspicious.)

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    My own C compiler (just for fun)▲175

    rcor C compiler (under development). Contribute to rcorcs/rcc development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

22. 22CT
    C#-to-JavaScript compiler powered by Microsoft Roslyn▲155

    2015 · duoco.de · its alternatives →

23. 23
    QBE – a new compiler back end▲241

    2016 · c9x.me · its alternatives →

24. 24PC
    Pure CSS/HTML C# syntax highlighting without JavaScript▲53

    C# to HTML converter

    2022 · csharp-colors.xyz · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →