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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Glua, a Full-Featured Lua VM for Nodejs and the Browser

Maybe you should use https://github.com/fiatjaf/flua instead of this - fiatjaf/glua

Glua is a Lua virtual machine that runs in Node.js and web browsers. It allows developers to execute Lua code in JavaScript environments, making it useful for embedding scripting capabilities in applications. The… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Glua, a Full-Featured Lua VM for Nodejs and the Browser launched in 2017; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1

    Completely managed .NET Lua. Contribute to frabert/NetLua development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2013 · github.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    Linux virtual machine, running in the browser via HTML5/WebAssembly. Networking and graphics supported.

    2021 · repl.leaningtech.com · its alternatives →

  3. 3

    A minimal text-editor with lua scripting. Contribute to skx/kilua development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

  4. 4

    Single executable(static), batteries included, Lua 5.1 interpreter. - tongson/LadyLua

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    MicroLua allows programming the RP2040 microcontroller in Lua. It packages the latest Lua interpreter with bindings for the Pico SDK and a cooperative threading library. MicroLua is licensed under the MIT license. I wanted to learn about Lua and about the RP2040 microcontroller. This is the result :)

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6OS

    I've been working on this for some time now, starting with vm2, then deno-core for 2 years, and recently rewrote it on rusty_v8 with Claude's help. OpenWorkers lets you run untrusted JS in V8 isolates on your own infrastructure. Same DX as Cloudflare Workers, no vendor lock-in. What works today: fetch, KV, Postgres bindings, S3/R2, cron scheduling, crypto.subtle. Self-hosting is a single docker-compose file + Postgres. Would love feedback on the architecture and what feature you'd want next.

    Jan 2026 · openworkers.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7

    laboratório de integração Lua com libuv para execução de scripts assíncronos e experimentação de POCs - joaoneto/lua-libuv

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8

    We just open-sourced Lume - a tool we built after hitting walls with existing virtualization options on Apple Silicon. No GUI, no complex stacks - just a single binary that lets you spin up macOS or Linux VMs via CLI or API. Why we built Lume: - Run native macOS VMs in 1 command, using Apple Virtualization.Framework: `lume run macos-sequoia-vanilla:latest` - Prebuilt images on https://ghcr.io/trycua (macOS, Ubuntu on ARM) - API server to manage VMs programmatically `POST /lume/vms` - A python SDK on github.com/trycua/pylume Run prebuilt macOS images in just…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    Hi HN A few folks and I have been working on this project for a couple weeks now. After previously working on the Docker project for a number of years (both on the container runtime and image registry side), the recent rise in open source language models made us think something similar needed to exist for large language models too. While not exactly the same as running linux containers, running LLMs shares quite a few of the same challenges. There are "base layers" (e.g. models like Llama 2), specific configuration to run correctly (parameters, temperature, context window sizes etc). There's…

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  10. 10

    I've been building a modern Ultima Online server emulator from scratch. It's not feature-complete (no combat, no skills yet), but the foundation is solid and I wanted to share it early. What it does today: - Full packet layer for the classic UO client (login, movement, items, mobiles) - Lua scripting for item behaviors (double-click a potion, open a door — all defined in Lua, no C# recompile) - Spatial world partitioned into sectors with delta sync (only sends packets for new sectors when crossing boundaries) - Snapshot-based persistence with MessagePack - Source generators for automatic DI…

    Mar 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  11. 11
    Lua▲194

    No-code token minter for Polygon

    2021 · lua.cash · its alternatives →

  12. 12WM

    Try it out! https://glhf.chat/ Hey HN! We’ve been working for the past few months on a website to let you easily run (almost) any open-source LLM on autoscaling GPU clusters. It’s free for now while we figure out how to price it, but we expect to be cheaper than most GPU offerings since we can run the models multi-tenant. Unlike Together AI, Fireworks, etc, we’ll run any model that the open-source vLLM project supports: we don’t have a hardcoded list. If you want a specific model or finetune, you don’t have to ask us for it: you can just paste the Hugging Face link in and…

    2024 · glhf.chat · its alternatives →

  13. 13VM

    2013 · blog.grunseid.com · its alternatives →

  14. 14IB

    I've been working on an MMORPG that is now in alpha as a solo developer. Here are the major open source technologies that I use: Blender - 3D modeling software for creating the overall environment and every game object. I've gotten a lot of CC and Public Domain assets from https://poly.pizza GLTF - I export assets from blender to the GLTF asset format JSON - I write a JSON config for every game object that describes things like its name, its interactions, its collisions, etc. Node.js exporter - I iterate over the environment and every asset to create a scene hierarchy. I use…

    2024 · alpha.reconquer.online · its alternatives →

  15. 15

    🌙 The minimal & fast library for functional user interfaces - kbrsh/moon

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16
    Ollama▲235

    The easiest way to run large language models locally

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    "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 →

  18. 18
    Bun▲295

    A fast JS runtime Node.js replacement with built‑in tools

    Dec 2025 · bun.com · its alternatives →

  19. 19

    Lua Text Adventure Engine. Contribute to shawndumas/adventure.lua development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2012 · github.com · its alternatives →

  20. 20

    Lua with C/C++/Java/Javascript syntax. Contribute to mingodad/ljs development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21

    I'm excited to announce the first release of my library, evolved.lua! evolved.lua is a fast and flexible ECS (Entity-Component-System) library for Lua. It is designed to be simple and easy to use, while providing all the features needed to create complex systems with blazing performance. Enjoy!

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  22. 22

    A Lua MVC Web Framework. Contribute to sailorproject/sailor development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    Minimal-overhead C++ wrapper for Lua. Contribute to vapourismo/luwra development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24

    An open source Lua framework for building 3D games and VR experiences.

    2017 · lovr.org · 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 →