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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to ast-grep

A polyglot tool for code searching, linting, rewriting

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. ast-grep launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1AG

    It is heavily inspired by semgrep, but intends to be an AST-base searcher/linter/rewriter. https://github.com/ast-grep/ast-grep

    2023 · ast-grep.github.io · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    Code search made fast

    2025 · grep.app · its alternatives →

  3. 3SC
  4. 4

    Much improved new version. Search for words similar to the query. For example, "death" will find "death", "dying", "dead", "killing"... Incredibly useful for exploring large text datasets where exact matches are too restrictive.

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    Codemod grep searches public code by syntax and structure, not just text or regex. Use ast-grep patterns to find code by shape across repositories.

    Aug 2026 · grep.codemod.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    local-first semantic code search engine. Contribute to kantord/SeaGOAT development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7

    Grep with colours. Contribute to arsham/blush development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8

    An extension of regular expressions for text editing, with a grep-like command-line tool. If you, like me, struggle with group logic in regular expressions, you might find it useful. I wanted to do this for a very long time. It is more of a sketch or prototype. I'd really appreciate your feedback!

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    A syntax-highlighting pager for git, diff, grep, rg --json, and blame output - dandavison/delta

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

  10. 10

    Hey HN! We (Stephan and Thomas) recently open-sourced Semble. We kept running into the same problem while using Claude Code on large codebases: when the agent can't find something directly, it falls back to grep, reading full files or launching subagents. This uses a lot of tokens, and often still misses the relevant code. There are existing tools for this, but they were either too slow to index on demand, needed API keys, or had poor retrieval quality. Semble is our solution for this. It combines static Model2Vec embeddings (using our latest static model: potion-code-16M) with BM25, fused…

    May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  11. 11IW

    My book on "GNU grep and ripgrep" is free to download today and tomorrow [1][2] Code snippets, example files and sample chapters are available on GitHub [3] The book uses plenty of examples and regular expressions are also covered from scratch. The book is suitable for beginners as well as serves as a reference. Hope you find it useful, I would be grateful for your feedback and suggestions. I used pandoc+xelatex [4] to generate the pdf. [1] https://gumroad.com/l/gnugrep_ripgrep [2] https://leanpub.com/gnugrep_ripgrep [3]…

    2019 · its alternatives →

  12. 12

    Local first semantic and hybrid BM25 grep / search tool for use by AI and humans! - GitHub - BeaconBay/ck: Local first semantic and hybrid BM25 grep / search tool for use by AI and humans!

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  13. 13AI

    I built this software to help users who need to do static code analysis for C/C++ codebase. This can help you to explore the ASTs interactively. It can replace the Clang ast dump completely and also you can search the code/ASTs in a structual way. For example you can search a function which matches specific name or number of paremeters.

    May 2026 · uvic-aurora.github.io · its alternatives →

  14. 14
    Greplica▲186

    Self updating wiki for coding agents

    Jul 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  15. 15GF

    I kept re-Googling the same flags, so I built a tiny, fast directory of copy-ready CLI commands. It’s static (vanilla JS), instant search, keyboard nav (↑/↓ + Enter), favorites (localStorage), and linkable queries. Examples: • grep errors → https://www.greppers.com/?q=grep%20error%20logs • list open ports (macOS) → https://www.greppers.com/?q=list%20open%20ports • show git branch graph → https://www.greppers.com/?q=git%20graph • tail with colors → https://www.greppers.com/?q=tail%20colors Tech notes: static site on Netlify, no…

    2025 · greppers.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16

    A lightweight full-text index server with a focus on speed and efficiency. - GitHub - f-prime/fist: A lightweight full-text index server with a focus on speed and efficiency.

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    Gitlogue is a CLI that turns your Git commits into a typing-style replay. It visualizes diffs line by line, shows the file tree, and plays back each edit as if it were typed in real time. Key points • Realistic typing animation • Syntax-highlighted diffs • File-tree view • Replay any commit • Self-contained CLI Demo video is in the README. Repo: https://github.com/unhappychoice/gitlogue

    Nov 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18

    I've built a tool called sol (like "soul") that helps you inspect and format complex shell one-liners. Features: - Choose which transformations you want (break on pipe, args, redirect, whatever) - "Peeks" into stringified commands (think xargs, parallel) and formats those, too - Auto-breaks at a given width (e.g., 80 characters) - Shows you non-standard aliases, functions, files, etc. that you might not have in your shell environment - Breaks up long jq lines with jqfmt because—let's be honest—they're getting out of hand As a security researcher and tool developer, I often encounter (or…

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  19. 19

    GOMP (Git cOMPare) is a tool for comparing branches. - MarkForged/GOMP

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

  20. 20

    Grep Clojure code using clojure.spec regexes. Contribute to borkdude/grasp development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21GA
  22. 22

    Uses upstream GNU grep to build a native php extension. - hparadiz/ext-gnu-grep

    Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    Navigational memory for coding agents: chart discoveries as you explore, cache-bust when files change - CyrusNuevoDia/capn-hook

    Jul 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24

    Hi HN, I built XRAY MCP after discovering that AI assistants were scanning my projects with plain grep and guessing. I tried direct tree-sitter integration and language servers; both felt heavy for a lightweight tool. ast-grep hit a sweet spot: syntax-aware search in a single binary. XRAY MCP wraps it behind three endpoints—map, find, impact—so a model (or human) can answer questions like “what breaks if I change this function?” on demand. It’s stateless, supports Python/JS/TS/Go, and installs quickly. Repo: https://github.com/srijanshukla18/xray Would love…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

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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 →