Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to cgen – A tool for writing C code with metaprogramming in JavaScript

A tool for generating C code with metaprogramming in javascript - saltzm/cgen

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. cgen – A tool for writing C code with metaprogramming in JavaScript launched in 2018; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Web Code Tools▲329

   Easy snippets of code essentials and generators

   2017 · webcode.tools · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Compiler using Lisp’s macro system for metaprogramming C-like languages▲80

   Next-level syntax for C-like languages :). Contribute to kiselgra/c-mera development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   SnippetEase▲188

   Embeddable code snippet generator

   2024 · devtool.site · its alternatives →

4. 4
   I built a Cargo-like build tool for C/C++▲177

   I love C and C++, but setting up projects can sometimes be a pain. Every time I wanted to start something new I'd spend the first hour writing CMakeLists.txt, figuring out find_package, copying boilerplate from my last project, and googling why my library isn't linking. By the time the project was actually set up I'd lost all momentum. So, I built Craft - a lightweight build and workflow tool for C and C++. Instead of writing CMake, your project configuration goes in a simple craft.toml: [project] name = "my_app" version = "0.1.0" language = "c" c_standard = 99 [build] type = "executable"…

   Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   htmlcss.tools▲130

   Your ultimate HTML & CSS code generator

   2023 · htmlcss.tools · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Linggen – A local-first memory layer for your AI (Cursor, Zed, Claude)▲36

   Hi HN, Working with multiple projects, I got tired of re-explaining our complex multi-node system to LLMs. Documentation helped, but plain text is hard to search without indexing and doesn't work across projects. I built Linggen to solve this. My Workflow: I use the Linggen VS Code extension to "init my day." It calls the Linggen MCP to load memory instantly. Linggen indexes all my docs like it’s remembering them—it is awesome. One click loads the full architectural context, removing the "cold start" problem. The Tech: Local-First: Rust + LanceDB. Code and embeddings stay on your machine. No…

   Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7JP
   JavaScript Program Synthesis▲139

   2021 · grgv.xyz · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Programmatically Generate Diagrams for GitHub Readmes▲220

   🧜‍♀️ RESTful rendering pipeline for generating sequence and UML diagrams using Mermaid for Markdown docs (Diagrams as a Service) - Schachte/Mermrender

   2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Zero-codegen, no-compile TypeScript type inference from Protobufs▲138

   🛫 Zero-codegen, no-compile TypeScript `type` inference from protobuf `message`s - nathanhleung/protobuf-ts-types

   2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Compile-time HTML parsing in C++14▲175

    A C++ HTML template engine that uses compile time HTML parsing - rep-movsd/see-phit

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

11. 11RA
    Rust, ARM Cortex M, and a Generated HAL▲137

    2016 · jamesmunns.com · its alternatives →

12. 12CP
    C programming language extension: Cedro pre-processor▲97

    2021 · sentido-labs.com · its alternatives →

13. 13AS
    A syntax-diagram generator for rust's macro_rules()▲36

    2018 · lukaslueg.github.io · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Codegen – OSS Python Library for Advanced Code Manipulation▲14

    Hey HN! We've just open-sourced Codegen (https://github.com/codegen-sh/codegen-sdk), a Python library for manipulating Python + JS/React codebases. Codegen was engineered backwards from real-world, large-scale codebase analysis + refactors we performed on multi-million-line enterprise codebases. It provides a scriptable interface to a powerful, multi-lingual language server built on Tree-sitter. We realized that many code transformation tasks that impact large teams - refactors, enforcing patterns, analyzing control flow - are fundamentally programmatic operations.…

    2025 · docs.codegen.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    A Fast, Malloc-Free C++14 Json Parser and Encoder▲98

    Meta programming utilities for C++14. Merged in matt-42/lithium - matt-42/iod

    2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Online C/C++ Code Browser▲72

    Codebrowser homepage

    2016 · code.woboq.org · its alternatives →

17. 17
    DuoCode▲73

    C#-to-JavaScript compiler

    2015 · duoco.de · its alternatives →

18. 18
    OneGen▲63

    Application data modeling meets code generation

    2022 · guillotina.io · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Tools4CSS▲64

    Tools to help developers build interfaces modern quickly

    2022 · tools4css.vercel.app · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Code generation tool for quick struct content comparison▲54

    Serialization code generator for QUICK struct content comparison - CovenantSQL/HashStablePack

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21GM
    Generate minimalist, fast no-JS websites from a single plain text file▲21

    2021 · leoncvlt.github.io · its alternatives →

22. 22
    UIGen – Production UI from any API spec with full override control▲49

    Runtime-rendered UI for web, IoT, and embedded systems. Zero codegen - darula-hpp/uigen

    May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    JavaScript port of Scientist library for refactoring critical paths▲34

    :microscope: A JavaScript interpretation of the Ruby library Scientist, a library for carefully refactoring critical paths. - bugthesystem/scientist.js

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Code Generator from database schema with your templates▲6

    Flexible code generator that grows with you and your project. - joelbugarini/hix_sharp

    2015 · github.com · 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 →