AI · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Chiplab
Test firmware on a virtual chip with no hardware needed
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1AL
Hi HN friends, we're Nima (nimabanai) and Craig (cbschind) from Assemble Labs (https://assemblelabs.co) building the hardware context layer for AI to help you write better firmware faster. We’ve built an MCP server that plugs into any AI tool you’re using (Cursor, Claude Code, Gemini, etc.) and brings complete hardware context (schematics, datasheets, etc.) to your existing environment (new app fatigue is real...) with accuracy and in real time. Our goal is to make writing and debugging firmware on custom hardware faster and easier. Try out the free beta release:…
2025 · its alternatives →
- 2
Adventures in hardware hacking, low-level software, FPGAs, and more!
2019 · craigjb.com · its alternatives →
- 3Scratchboard▲146
Create, simulate, and collaborate on digital circuits
2025 · scratchboard.io · its alternatives →
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A while back I wrote a CHIP-8 emulator (which is considered the Hello, World! of emulators and is more accurately a virtual machine since historically CHIP-8 was an interpreted language running on top of the COSMAC VIP to make game programming easier). But a few months ago I got really interested in embedded software, so decided it would be neat to port my emulator to a STM32 MCU and design a console around it as a learning experience, since CHIP-8 never existed as a physical system. I didn't know much about embedded software when I began, and even less about electronics, but I managed to…
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 6
Replicas▲239Hey HN! I'm Connor, creator of Replicas. I'm a heavy Codex/Claude Code user, and I wanted to hand off tasks to agents like I would to an engineer - kick something off before work, let it scaffold while I'm at lunch, even come back to a ready PR. The problem: existing alternatives use workspace VMs that are black boxes. I have no access to any of them - they can't run tests, read logs, or use tools like the Playwright MCP (which I use to verify agents actually fixed what they claim to fix). Replicas gives agents real cloud workspaces where they can: - Run your test suite and read the…
Jun 2026 · replicas.dev · its alternatives →
- 7
VibeShift MCP▲141Hi HN, We are the devs behind VibeShift. We have been building this MCP server to put AI coding assistants in an automatic feedback loop. They code, test, debug, fix everything until we have a fully working, secure code. It tests like a real user, copies network/console and logical errors to give them back to cursor. (1 min demo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_RgQGa8B0) We felt this was the natural next step for AI coding assistants. And with new asynchronous assistants like codex, having a plug & play tester makes sure you don't have to spend time debugging and…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Open-source ESP32 emulator. Run real firmware locally or in your browser — no hardware, no cloud, no subscription. - mikroverk/esp32sim
4d ago · github.com · its alternatives →
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Devlop Ai▲95AI IDE that writes and flashes STM32 firmware for your board
Feb 2026 · devlop.ai · its alternatives →
- 13
EasyCircuit▲178Hardware prototyping, as simple as vibe-coding
Jul 2026 · easycircuit.app · its alternatives →
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Open-source Computer Use MCP for AI agents
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 15
Vibe Pocket▲135Run AI agents like Claude Code, Codex, Opencode on mobile
Dec 2025 · vibepocket.com · its alternatives →
- 16
Eyes on real hardware for your AI coding agent
Aug 2026 · hardfault.in · its alternatives →
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AI code security review that runs entirely on your Mac
Apr 2026 · its alternatives →
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Hi HN! This is an SDK for ESP32s (microcontrollers) that runs against OpenAI's new WebRTC service [0] My hope is that people can easily add AI to lots of 'real' devices. Wearable devices, speakers around the house, toys etc... You don't have to write any code, just buy a device and set some env variables. If you have any feedback/questions I would love to hear! I hope this kicks off a generation of new interesting devices. If you aren't familiar with WebRTC it can do some magical things. Check out WebRTC for the Curious[1] and would love to talk about all the cool things that does also.…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Give your agent tools to create beautiful, codebase-aware UI
Apr 2026 · aidesigner.ai · its alternatives →
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Hardware emulation for faster testing of your firmware
Jul 2026 · fauvido.com · its alternatives →
- 22
MCP server exposing labgrid hardware-in-the-loop device operations to LLM agents — 47 tools over coordinator gRPC + labgrid's client-side driver stack (power/console/io/flash/mux/SSH). Standalone, coordinator-agnostic. - onurcelep/labgrid-mcp
Aug 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 23
Hi HN! Ever wish you could just point your AI assistant at your terminal and say 'what's wrong with this output?' That's why I built iterm-mcp. It lets MCP clients like Claude Desktop directly interact with your iTerm2 terminal - reading logs, running commands, using REPLs, and helping debug issues. Want to explore data or debug using a REPL? The AI can start the REPL, run commands, and help interpret the results. This is an MCP server that integrates with Claude Desktop, LibreChat, and other Model Context Protocol compatible clients.…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 24
Aether▲26Since coding agents like Claude Code and Codex came out, I've been pretty obsessed with them. It's hard not to when you're getting a 20x discount on inference. I've also been frustrated by them a lot. I hated walking around with my laptop lid open while connected to a hotspot on my phone, having to tediously accept commands so I don't lose my root directory, and running out of RAM when running multiple agents that were spinning up dev servers in different worktrees at once. A lot of people would say existing cloud agents are the solution to this, as none of the above problems apply to any…
Jul 2026 · runaether.dev · 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 →