Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Build your own Git/Docker/Redis (advanced programming challenges)
Hey HN! I spent the last year building a programming challenges site targeted at intermediate/advanced programmers [1]. Challenges follow the "Build your own X" format, where you learn about a popular open source tool by building a small version yourself (popularized by this Github repo [2]). The primary difference compared to other coding challenge websites like Codecademy, HackerRank, Exercism etc. is that we offer real-world programming challenges - no inverting binary trees here! I've posted about this multiple times here before, but haven't managed to gather much interest. Trying…
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Build your own Git/Docker/Redis (advanced programming challenges) launched in 2021; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 1
I've been a longtime member @ HN, but I haven't been a developer. In fact, my only HN submission has been one asking how to learn to code (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=820741). My cofounder and I decided to solve the problem by making a simple, interactive way to get started with Codecademy. We'd love your feedback. If you're interested in helping us to get more courses up (on any topic!), please send us an email at [email protected].
2011 · codecademy.com · its alternatives →
- 2
Learn programming by building real systems from scratch. Redis, Git, a database, a compiler — every lesson is choose, write, run.
Jul 2026 · shipthatcode.com · its alternatives →
- 3
Hey! I’m JC. I’m 17 and part of Hack Club, a nonprofit where we help teenagers ship programming projects with their friends while growing technically. A while ago, I asked myself the question, “How exactly do programming languages work behind the scenes?” It seemed really daunting until I went to a half hour workshop at a high school hackathon about writing a tree-walk interpreter and realized that getting started was actually super fun. This guide is designed in the vein of that - to get people, especially teenagers, started on learning how to build a programming language in a literal…
2024 · easel.hackclub.com · its alternatives →
- 4
Hi all, I'm sure some of the best engineers out here are having a hard time standing out nowadays. It's hard to evaluate and improve your skills, when AI is writing the code. Especially when a junior dev is sitting by your side and "accomplishing" 2x more than you. I didn't like this reality where the line between real talent and AI slop is blurring, so I decided to create a challenge, purely for the community, that is made to truly give a stage for talented devs to stand out in the age of AI. We encourage devs to bring their agents with them, because the challenge is built to not be…
May 2026 · theincidentchallenge.com · its alternatives →
- 5
Elevate your coding skills through daily design recreations
2024 · its alternatives →
- 6
Hackattic is all about hard, real-world programming challenges. No binary trees. Git, Docker, Redis, Postgres hacking and more.
2017 · hackattic.com · its alternatives →
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GitGuessr▲98I built this game as a playful way to train code reading skills. You're dropped into a random location in a real GitHub repo where some lines code are hidden. The goal is to pick up clues from the surrounding code and fill in the missing lines as quickly as possible. It currently has curated game content for Python, TypeScript, JavaScript (by most metrics the top 3 languages on GitHub). I had the idea when it dawned on me that reviewing and understanding code spat out by an LLM is a key skill for the AI era. (I sincerely hope you're critically reviewing what your favorite LLM is serving…
Feb 2026 · gitguessr.com · its alternatives →
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GitQuest▲77Learn Git by solving challenges in a fake terminal
Apr 2026 · gitquest.app · its alternatives →
- 9
Everything that would be here is in the README. I hope this gets big, it has tons of potential.
2013 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 10LP
Hi! I am doing a learning project, attempting to build an imperative language (and interpreter). The end product will be useless for others, I just want to learn and better understand how to build imperative languages. :) If someone else shares this interest and want to give some good hints on good resources I would be grateful. Currently I am looking at an awesome text by Bob Nystrom. All suggestions and tips on resources are most welcome. I am very much a beginner in this, but I find this topic very fascinating. Mail me or post links here! Cheers! You can try a beta version Online at…
2020 · its alternatives →
- 11
Hi HN! I'm Matt, founder of Frontend Mentor (https://www.frontendmentor.io). We provide front-end and full-stack coding challenges with professional Figma designs, enabling developers to build real projects and grow their skills. The problem: AI coding tools are great, but they can work against you when you're learning. Ask Copilot or Cursor to help with a beginner project, and they'll happily write the whole thing for you. You ship the project, but you didn't really learn anything. What we did: We added AGENTS.md (and CLAUDE.md) files to every challenge's starter code. These files…
2018 · frontendmentor.io · its alternatives →
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- 14OS
I got tired of collecting open source projects in my chrome bookmarks so I decided to compile a curated list of: - Recently active projects on GitHub - Mostly dev tools (but also productivity, analytics) - Projects which are "Alternative to X software" My bookmarks are finally empty:D If you have a great open source tool you use, I'd be glad to hear your suggestions. Also, any feedback is greatly appreciated.
2025 · alternativeoss.com · its alternatives →
- 15
Learn Go programming in one evening with our hands-on, interactive online training. Build real projects, boost your skills, and become productive with one of the most in-demand languages. Over 800 developers already joined!
2022 · threedots.tech · its alternatives →
- 16
Hi HN, A lot of the dev teams I have worked with had a lot of issues with their documentation. In fact, some of my easiest clients to get were from clients that had "black box" solutions that devs no longer at the company had created. Personally, writing documentation is like grinding nails on a chalkboard. I have been having a lot of fun with building solutions that can run in a distributed way, not something a dev needs to run themselves. And after a significant amount of testing and building out several different solutions, I finally have a solution that is easy to set up and runs in the…
Dec 2025 · codesummary.io · its alternatives →
- 17
Howdy friends. I've been a zero to one product manager for 12 plus years and along the way I kept borrowing pieces from different discovery frameworks until I had a methodology of my own, one that actually raises the odds of an idea succeeding. This does not replace user interviews obviously, but it leads you in the right direction. Looking forward for your feedback
Jul 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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We're two engineers that got fed up with context switching. Why do we need to do a git push, open a browser tab, wait for some task to actually start, bite nails (or read HackerNews) for 10 minutes or more while dependencies are being installed for the 100th time and finally end up with an invalid YAML error. And for some reason this usually happens in the final stage of the pipeline leading up to the inevitable git commits "Fixed", "Fixed again", "Test", "Really fixed this time". We can do better. We set out to build Zippy. A CI/CD system that works from your terminal. No context…
Mar 2026 · zippy.sh · its alternatives →
- 20IM
I am excited to introduce my solo project, a platform built with the frontend development community in mind. It's an interactive environment aimed at refining debugging skills through exposure to real-world bugs. This project stems from the need for a hands-on, practical method of learning to debug. The site features a variety of intentional bugs for users to solve, mirroring the types of challenges faced in professional settings. Over the coming weeks, I will be adding many more exercises and new features to enhance your learning experience further. Check out CodeMender at…
2024 · codemender.io · its alternatives →
- 21IB
Hey Guys, I created GithubReader.org (open-source, non-profit, most of the code is written by ChatGPT). My motivation: I wanted an easy way to keep a list of repositories I want to learn from and access them quickly. So, I built a search page where I can find repositories by name, like Google. Also, I wanted a nicer way to read Markdown files on my laptop without the GitHub UI, like reading a book. So, I made a custom UI with a back button that takes you to the previous state without jumping pages. The markdown links are sharable, e.g.…
2024 · githubreader.org · its alternatives →
- 22DD
Myself and three friends, for the last year have been building our own side project, the aim of this side project was to show off the creative side of developers. One of my bug bears with Reddit is how quickly things get buried. The bug bear has turned into the basis for what I been building on the side called The Full Stack. A platform to show off developer projects basically. Another bug bear of mine over the years has been trying to find open source or just cool side projects to work on with others, and even find teams to join. So that's another thing we've built, an easy way to find…
2023 · thefullstack.network · its alternatives →
- 23TO
For CodeSprint 2, we decided to introduce Real World Problems: programming problems that our CodeSprint companies face in real life. Real World Problems are messy, complicated, and infinitely variable. They require API calls, use of an arbitrary number of libraries, and a file structure that contains more than a single file upload. In short: Our existing code checking architecture is mostly useless. So we're writing a new one. Please help us test it. beta.interviewstreet.com
2011 · its alternatives →
- 24LA
Hello HN, I am building a devtool to understand existing codebases. The idea originates from my time at big tech as well as various attempts to get involved in open source projects. When I was in college I wanted to improve my coding skills by contributing to opensource projects. I would pickup a bug or feature request but I always found myself stuck at the very first step. I did not understood where and how to begin contributing. I once submitted a patch in firefox which was labeled "Good first issue" but that was still very handheld. The assigner told me exactly which files I need to…
2024 · lucidcode.ai · its alternatives →
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- Hackattic – hard, no-nonsense, real-world programming challenges 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 →