Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Different ways to implement virtual machines, benchmarked

A demonstration of ways to implement 'threaded code,' a technique used in Forth and in virtual machines like the JVM. - shadowofneptune/threaded-code-benchmark

This project benchmarks different approaches to implementing virtual machines, examining various implementation strategies and their performance characteristics. It is intended for developers and computer science… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Different ways to implement virtual machines, benchmarked launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1
A small virtual machine written in C▲212
"interesting" VM in C. Let's see how this goes. Contribute to tekknolagi/carp development by creating an account on GitHub.
2014 · github.com · its alternatives →
2
High-order Virtual Machine (HVM) – A Parallel Functional Runtime▲150
HVM1 (2022): a massively parallel, optimal functional runtime in Rust - HigherOrderCO/HVM1
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
3
Sub-millisecond VM sandboxes using CoW memory forking▲311
I wanted to see how fast an isolated code sandbox could start if I never had to boot a fresh VM. So instead of launching a new microVM per execution, I boot Firecracker once with Python and numpy already loaded, then snapshot the full VM state. Every execution after that creates a new KVM VM backed by a `MAP_PRIVATE` mapping of the snapshot memory, so Linux gives me copy-on-write pages automatically. That means each sandbox starts from an already-running Python process inside a real VM, runs the code, and exits. These are real KVM VMs, not containers: separate guest kernel, separate guest…
Mar 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
4
Tail Recursion Optimization for the JVM▲107
Optimizer library for tail recursive calls in Java bytecode - Sipkab/jvm-tail-recursion
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
5
ZeroHTTPd: A web server to teach Linux performance, with benchmarks▲472
Articles in this series Part I. Iterative ServersPart II. Forking ServersPart III. Pre-forking ServersPart IV. Threaded ServersPart V. Pre-threaded ServersPart VI: poll-based serverPart VII: epoll-…
2019 · unixism.net · its alternatives →
6
I spent my vacation writing a modern JVM assembler▲218
A JVM assembler for the modern age. Contribute to roscopeco/jasm development by creating an account on GitHub.
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
7
Find the best local LLM for your hardware, ranked by benchmarks▲283
Find the local LLM that actually runs and performs best on your hardware. Ranked by real, recency-aware benchmarks, not parameter count. One command, run it instantly. - Andyyyy64/whichllm
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
8
A minimal stack based VM in C▲60
A minimal stack-based VM. Contribute to codr7/liblg development by creating an account on GitHub.
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
9
Simple virtual machine, assembler, and C compiler▲99
simple virtual machine and assembler. Contribute to ronsoros/rvm development by creating an account on GitHub.
2016 · github.com · its alternatives →
10
I wrote a VM and Compiler for a small language in Go▲37
My implementation of Thorsten Bell's book (Writing an Interpreter in Go) - actuallyachraf/monkey-giggle
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
11
LocalScore – Local LLM Benchmark▲124
Hey Folks! I've been building an open source benchmark for measuring local LLM performance on your own hardware. The benchmarking tool is a CLI written on top of Llamafile to allow for portability across different hardware setups and operating systems. The website is a database of results from the benchmark, allowing you to explore the performance of different models and hardware configurations. Please give it a try! Any feedback and contribution is much appreciated. I'd love for this to serve as a helpful resource for the local AI community. For more check out: - Website:…
2025 · localscore.ai · its alternatives →
12
Tiny VM sandbox in C with apps in Rust, C and Zig▲196
Minimalist, dependency-free virtual machine sandbox for microcontrollers and other resource-constrained devices. Single C file, no dynamic memory allocations, asynchronous design, pure C99 - ringtailsoftware/uvm32
Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
13
AVR-VM – VM with JIT-compiler for ATMega32 written in Rust▲78
VM with JIT-compiler for ATMega32 written in Rust. Contribute to MackieLoeffel/avr-vm development by creating an account on GitHub.
2017 · github.com · its alternatives →
14LT
Lightweight Threads, Channels and Actors for the JVM▲116
2013 · blog.paralleluniverse.co · its alternatives →
15
Katakate – Dozens of VMs per node for safe code exec▲124
I've built this to make it easy to host your own infra for lightweight VMs at large scale. Intended for exec of AI-generated code, for CICD runners, or for off-chain AI DApps. Mainly to avoid Docker-in-Docker dangers and mess. Super easy to use with CLI / Python SDK, friendly to AI engs who usually don't like to mess with VM orchestration and networking too much. Defense-in-depth philosophy. Would love to get feedback (and contributors: clear & exciting roadmap!), thx
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
16
A WebAssembly System Interface Implementation for Deno▲90
A (WIP) WebAssembly System Interface implementation for Deno - caspervonb/deno-wasi
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
17QA
Q8, an In-Browser VM for Learning and Visualizing Bytecode Programming▲145
2017 · anchovieshat.github.io · its alternatives →
18
Lightweight tool for managing Linux virtual machines▲144
hey guys. the other day i was migrating hosting providers and i just needed something not too heavy and convenient to spin up my backups for awhile and realised there is almost nothing out there. kimchi hasn't been updated for years and cockpit is heavy. so here's something i came up with in a couple hours because of a sudden urge, nothing fancy just basic creation with cloud init, lifecycle management and image/storage, but it's modern-ish and it compiles to a 8.4mb binary inclusive of the embedded web UI, CLI and API, and only dep is libvirt.
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
19
A working reference implementation of context engineering▲46
I've been presenting at local meetups about Context Engineering, RAG, Skills, etc.. I even have a vbrownbag coming up on LinkedIn about this topic so I figured I would make a basic example that uses bedrock so I can use it in my talks or vbrownbags. Hopefully it's useful.
Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
20
Second State VM▲78
High performance secure & portable Rust functions in Node.js
2020 · secondstate.io · its alternatives →
21
Kyushu – A self-hostable WASM sandbox for JavaScript workers▲89
A self-hostable Wasm sandbox for JavaScript workers.
Jun 2026 · kyushu.dev · its alternatives →
22
A thread hierarchy management library in C▲53
Non-preemptive Thread Hierarchy Manager. Contribute to gueststar/nthm development by creating an account on GitHub.
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
23
Comparing JVM Virtual Threads vs. Real Threads in Clojure▲6
I wrote this just to compare the performance of Java 21 Virtual Threads vs old-fashioned Threads.
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
24
A an R7RS Scheme Implementation in WebAssembly▲84
An R7RS Scheme implemented in WebAssembly . Contribute to PollRobots/scheme development by creating an account on GitHub.
2022 · 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 →