Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to RetroTick – Run classic Windows EXEs in the browser
RetroTick parses PE/NE/MZ binaries, emulates an x86 CPU, and stubs enough Win32/Win16/DOS APIs to run classics like FreeCell, Minesweeper, Solitaire and QBasic, entirely in the browser. Built with Preact + Vite + TypeScript. Demo: https://retrotick.com GitHub: https://github.com/lqs/retrotick
RetroTick enables users to run classic Windows programs like FreeCell, Minesweeper, Solitaire, and QBasic directly in a web browser. It works by parsing legacy executable formats, emulating an x86 CPU, and implementing… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1
Run KolibriOS, Linux or Windows 98 in your browser
2016 · copy.sh · its alternatives →
- 2
Nostalgist.js is a JavaScript library that allows you to run emulators of retro consoles within web browsers.
2023 · nostalgist.js.org · its alternatives →
- 3
Run KolibriOS, Linux or Windows 98 in your browser
2013 · copy.sh · its alternatives →
- 4RG
Created some free sites to play online versions of retro MS games like Minesweeper, Solitaire and others such as Sudoku & Tic Tac Toe. I learned about Cloudflare's Pages at same time to host all the code at no cost.
2023 · retrogmz.com · its alternatives →
- 5
TIC-80▲69Create and play games for a retro fantasy computer
2017 · apps.microsoft.com · its alternatives →
- 6
To try it out, simply build the project yourself from source, or use attached bootable ISO image of the system (in Releases on Github) and run it in QEMU. https://blog.vxn.dev/rou2exos-rusted-edition
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 7
Fast, native, comprehensive issue tracking for GitHub
2018 · realartists.com · its alternatives →
- 8
- 9IR
After 25 years of writing software, I was feeling nostalgic for the kinds of things that got me into programming in the first place: the old DOS demoscene. I spent a weekend seeing if I could recapture some of that INT 13H VGA magic using today's web tech, but with the old-school constraints of doing it from scratch. The result is this portfolio of ten classic effects running in a single HTML file. It's all vanilla JavaScript writing to a element, with no external libraries. It was a fun challenge to implement things like: * The color palette cycling and smooth fading in the Plasma demo. *…
2025 · jdfio.com · its alternatives →
- 10
- 11
RomM is a self-hosted app that allows you to manage your retro game files (ROMs) and play them in the browser. Think of it as Plex or Jellyfin for your ROM library: it automatically fetches metadata, artwork, and game information from online metadata sources to transform your folders into a browsable collection. You can play games directly in the browser for consoles like the N64, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation 1, using the integrated web emulator (https://emulatorjs.org/). Members of the community have released integrations for Playnite (Windows), muOS…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 12
A retro game engine for Python. Contribute to kitao/pyxel development by creating an account on GitHub.
22d ago · github.com · its alternatives →
- 13
Windows 95 in an app. Runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. - felixrieseberg/windows95
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 14
Browse the live web through retro desktop environments. Windows 98, System 7, NeXTSTEP, and more — every page is a real interactive browser session.
Feb 2026 · win9-5.com · its alternatives →
- 15AS
Lots of fun to do. I would have not taken the time without the speedup provided by Claude. https://andyrosa.github.io/Sinclaude/simulator.html
2025 · its alternatives →
- 16
A Simple Unix-like operating system. Contribute to ozkl/soso development by creating an account on GitHub.
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 17
Afterplay▲113We just launched the Afterplay Store. It lets you buy new retro games and start playing instantly in your browser, with no installs or setup. Here’s a quick demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoChUbaspbI We’re launching with publishers like Mega Cat Studios and Incube8, with more to come. The goal is to make retro games as easy to access as modern ones. Would love any feedback.
2023 · afterplay.io · its alternatives →
- 18IM
Hi, As a 8-bit C64 game coder in eaarly 90ties and currently mostly FE-focused dev, decided to give a go to a simple retro game archive. This is purely fun project - so i decided to post it to HN, mayne it'll resonate :)
2023 · polishpixels.com · its alternatives →
- 19
Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uygzEmdLw Hi HN, I built a RISC-V emulator that implements the RV32IM instruction set and a minimal syscall interface to run DOOM. A few weeks ago, I got my first output with a simple hello world assembly program. Since then I have been working tirelessly to get DOOM to run. I needed to figure out how to run C programs first, and came across newlib, which allows the underlying environment to implement the syscall stubs one by one until the programs run. I have also added ELF loading, but currently only a single `PT_LOAD` segment is…
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 20
Terminal emulator which mimics the old cathode display
2017 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 21
- 22
Hello HN, I've been working on a simple OS for tinkering and running bare metal apps on vintage PCs. Since I couldn't quite decide whether to target pure 16-bit, or slightly more capable 32-bit machines, I ended up with two separate versions: - GentleOS/32 (https://github.com/luke8086/gentleos32) works on i386+, requires 4MB of RAM and VGA display supporting 640x480x16 mode or any 256-color VESA mode. - GentleOS/16 (https://github.com/luke8086/gentleos) works on 80186+, requires less than 192KB of RAM and a CGA display supporting 320x200x4…
Jun 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 23HX
Hello HN, sharing my weekend project. I'm a fan of retro GUIs and fan of HN, so I built an alternative HN front end that resembles a Window XP desktop with an old Outlook email client. Archive and github links if you get 500 errors: https://web.archive.org/web/20220122190454/https://hackerxp.... https://github.com/assemblylanguage/hacker-xp
2022 · hackerxp.com · its alternatives →
- 24
RetroTool▲72Remote retrospectives made easy, simple, fun and effective.
2020 · retrotool.io · its alternatives →
Also compare
- Windows 98 in browser alternatives
- Nostalgist.js – Run emulators of retro consoles, within web browsers alternatives
- My x86 emulator written in JavaScript alternatives
- Retro games hosted in Cloudflare Pages for free alternatives
- TIC-80 alternatives
- A DOS-like hobby OS written in Rust and x86 assembly 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 →