Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to I Made a Lisp
Hi all, powerful open-source Lisp implementations are a dime a dozen, why not try JMurmel instead? The language is inspired by Common Lisp, except it's a Lisp-1, and it is mostly a subset of CLtL-1. Jmurmel can be used standalone with or without the Repl, for "#!"-style hashbang scripts or embedded in a Java program. It features [documentation for the core language](https://jmurmel.github.io/murmel-langref.html) as well as [documentation for the default library](https://jmurmel.github.io/mlib.html), a REPL, an interpreter, a compiler, macros, backquotes,…
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. I Made a Lisp launched in 2024; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 1
I created this because sometimes I want more than rlwrap but less than emacs. icl aims to hit that middle sweet spot. It's a terminal application with context-aware auto-complete, an interactive object inspector, auto-indentation, syntax colouring, persistent history, and much more. It uses sly to communicate with the child lisp process and aims to be compatible with any sly-supporting implementation. I hope others find it useful!
Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 2IW
The book page links to a blog post that explains how I got about it (and has a link to sample content), but the TL&DR is that I could not find a lot of books that were on "our" history _and_ were larded with technical details. So I set about writing one, and some five years later I'm happy to share the result. I think it's one of the few "computer history" books that has tons of code, but correct me if I'm wrong (I wrote this both to tell a story and to learn :-)). My favorite languages are Smalltalk and Lisp, but as an Emacs user, I've been using the latter for much longer and for my…
Feb 2026 · berksoft.ca · its alternatives →
- 3IM
2013 · lispwebtales.ppenev.com · its alternatives →
- 4
Lisp-inspired interactive REPL editor tools for Javascript
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 5
A lisp rosetta stone to demonstrate modern language features - eatonphil/lisp-rosetta-stone
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 6
Easy JSON Query Processor with a Lispy syntax in Go - cube2222/jql
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 7
Let-go is a Clojure-like language (~90% compatible with JVM Clojure) written in pure Go. It ships as a ~10MB static binary and cold boots in ~7ms - that's about 50x faster than JVM and 3x faster than Babashka. It has decent throughput on algorithmic workloads - within ballpark of the GraalVM-backed sci. I started this project in 2021 as an elaborate practical joke: I wanted to have an excuse for writing Clojure while pretending to write Go. Jokes aside, it turned out to be pretty decent: it feels like real Clojure, it has an nREPL server (supported in Calva, CIDER, etc.), it's easily…
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 8
Thread-safe Common Lisp style conditions and restarts for Clojure(Script) and Babashka. - IGJoshua/farolero
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 9
Redstart is a lightweight Lisp interpreter written in C++ with a focus on shell scripting. It lets you combine the expressive power of Lisp with the practicality of the Unix shell: you can run commands, capture output, pipe between processes, and still use Lisp syntax for logic and structure. Think of it as writing your shell scripts in Lisp instead of Bash.
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 10
The notebook-style Common Lisp environment. Contribute to tamamu/darkmatter development by creating an account on GitHub.
2017 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 11
Moved to Forgejo! Contribute to krig/LISP development by creating an account on GitHub.
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 12
2025 · turtleware.eu · its alternatives →
- 13
Implementation of the standard is still not complete, but breakpoints and stepping work quite well! It also has some support for watchpoints, that no implementation has. Now it ships with ASDF and is capable of loading systems! Let me know if you like it. Support on Patreon or Liberapay is much appreciated
2025 · savannah.nongnu.org · its alternatives →
- 14
GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
2011 · gist.github.com · its alternatives →
- 15
Hi HN, author here. Happy to answer any questions. I had an itch to make a lisp like language that was a thin layer on top JavaScript. Something that could leverage the thriving ecosystem that exists around JavaScript. It's brittle, hot off the oven. Besides being a fan of parenthesis, I think macros fill in a gap that the JavaScript ecosystem today fills in with one-off compilers, bundler plugins and such. Macros can't do everything, but for example I think they have the potential to enable things like JSX, Solid and Svelte style libraries. Take the tour to get a feel for what it can do and…
2023 · daklang.com · its alternatives →
- 16
Lisp-like-R: A clojure inspired lisp that compiles to R in R - dirkschumacher/llr
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 17
Next-level syntax for C-like languages :). Contribute to kiselgra/c-mera development by creating an account on GitHub.
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 18
Relatively simple currently, but figured I'd post for some feedback. I started this project last year but somewhat abandoned it. This feels like something which most likely already exists, but I couldn't find anything at the time I made it. I feel like my write up on the repo is pretty good at explaining the inspiration and purpose of this package; "Let's say you have an API, and you're looking for a method by which you can increase performance of your app via doing transformations of the data directly in the API. In this scenario, you would middleman the API returned data through a Fluxduct…
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 19
:aquarius: A Lisp-esque, JS-interpreted scripting language - tsortwehttam/runiq
2015 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 20
See what it’s like to program in a language without null.
2015 · books.thoughtbot.com · its alternatives →
- 21
We heard your requests for Haskell and today we're excited to finally announce Haskell as yet another language we support. We've decided to put our focus...
2017 · repl.it · its alternatives →
- 22
This is a hobby project of mine that I started a few years ago to learn about programming language implementation. It was created 95% without AI, although a few recent commits include code from Gemini CLI. I started out following Crafting Interpreters, but gradually branched off that until I had almost nothing left in common. Tech stack: Rust, Cranelift (JIT compilation), LALRPOP (parser). Original title: "A small programming language where everything is a value" (edited based on comments)
Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 23
a custom Lisp REPL using Swifties. Contribute to codr7/swifties-repl development by creating an account on GitHub.
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 24
A ChatGPT mode for the Julia REPL. Contribute to ThatcherC/ReplGPT.jl development by creating an account on GitHub.
2023 · 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 →