Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to WebGCM – a global climate model running in the browser on WebGPU

WebGCM is a fully functional global climate model that runs directly in web browsers using WebGPU graphics processing. It simulates atmospheric layers, ocean currents, clouds, ice, and weather patterns across a… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.

1. 1
   ChartGPU – WebGPU-powered charting library (1M points at 60fps)▲670

   Creator here. I built ChartGPU because I kept hitting the same wall: charting libraries that claim to be "fast" but choke past 100K data points. The core insight: Canvas2D is fundamentally CPU-bound. Even WebGL chart libraries still do most computation on the CPU. So I moved everything to the GPU via WebGPU: - LTTB downsampling runs as a compute shader - Hit-testing for tooltips/hover is GPU-accelerated - Rendering uses instanced draws (one draw call per series) The result: 1M points at 60fps with smooth zoom/pan. Live demo:…

   Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Free e-book about WebGPU Programming▲471

   I am excited to announce the launch of my e-book on Graphics/WebGPU programming! This project has consumed much of my spare time, during which I developed various tools to facilitate the publishing process, including a code playground and a static site generator that can reference sample codes. However, I'm feeling burnt out and ready to call it finished, even though it may not feel completely done. Avoiding another abandoned side project has been my primary motivation in reaching this point.

   2024 · shi-yan.github.io · its alternatives →

3. 3AW
   A WebGL visualization to show how global temperature changed since 1850▲69

   Global Temperature Change WebGL</i> is an experiment that tries to illustrate how global temperatures on earth have changed between 1850 and 2016.

   2016 · callumprentice.github.io · its alternatives →

4. 4
   WebGPU Tech Demo▲141

   WebGPU tech demo running in modern browsers showcasing various rendering techniques like deferred rendering with 400+ dynamic lights, Hi-Z screen space reflections and cascaded shadow mapping.

   2024 · gnikoloff.github.io · its alternatives →

5. 5G3
   Global 3D topography explorer▲118

   I made a web app to generate 3D models of real places on earth from land cover and elevation data. Click anywhere on the map to get a polygon, and then click "generate". It should work at most scales, but if your watershed or region selection is too large, the result can be less exciting because it's so flat. As a warning, the 3D models can sometimes be too much for my phone. It's nicer on desktop. I'm still working better on mobile support. The land cover data I'm using gives a cool effect, but at some point I'd like to add in global imagery and clouds. The backend is a Python thread…

   2025 · topography.jessekv.com · its alternatives →

6. 6RT
   Real-Time 3D Gaussian Splatting in WebGL▲309

   2023 · antimatter15.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   WebGPU Particles Simulation▲41

   This is a small particles simulation that can run either with WebGPU (GPU Compute) or with the CPU, and it can be changed in real time

   2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8WE
   WebGPU enables local LLM in the browser – demo site with AI chat▲145

   Browser LLM demo working on JavaScript and WebGPU. WebGPU is already supported in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, iOS (v26) and Android. Demo, similar to ChatGPT https:&#x2F;&#x2F;andreinwald.github.io&#x2F;browser-llm&#x2F; Code https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;andreinwald&#x2F;browser-llm - No need to use your OPENAI_API_KEY - its local model that runs on your device - No network requests to any API - No need to install any program - No need to download files on your device (model is cached in browser) - Site will ask before downloading large files (llm model) to browser cache - Hosted on Github…

   2025 · andreinwald.github.io · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Simulate 3D plants in the browser▲439

   2023 · plant.max-richter.dev · its alternatives →

10. 10
    WASM and WebGL Fluid Simulation▲86

    Fluid simulation in liquidfun-wasm

    2021 · birchlabs.co.uk · its alternatives →

11. 11AS
    A simple infinite world in WebGL▲181

    2016 · erkaman.github.io · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Ecosim – A cellular ecosystem simulator toy for Linux written in C▲150

    An interactive ecosystem and evolution simulator written in C and OpenGL, for GNU/Linux. - connor-brooks/ecosim

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Dark Sky for Web▲262

    Hyperlocal weather information, now on the web ⛈

    2016 · support.apple.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    GPT-2 implemented using graphics shaders▲228

    Back in the old days, people used to do general-purpose GPU programming by using shaders like GLSL. This is what inspired NVIDIA (and other companies) to eventually create CUDA (and friends). This is an implementation of GPT-2 using WebGL and shaders. Enjoy!

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    A CSS-Only Terrain Generator▲371

    An interactive CSS terrain generator. Define a grid and generate your terrain!

    Nov 2025 · terra.layoutit.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    I've made a Monte-Carlo raytracer for glTF scenes in WebGPU▲131

    This is a GPU "software" raytracer (i.e. using manual ray-scene intersections and not RTX) written using the WebGPU API that renders glTF scenes. It supports many materials, textures, material & normal mapping, and heavily relies on multiple importance sampling to speed up convergence.

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17WF
    WebGL Fire Simulation▲143

    2016 · ghostinthecode.net · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Global sailing navigation simulator using real weather/ocean data▲131

    2020 · 8bitbyte.ca · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Shadeup – A language that makes WebGPU easier▲179

    2024 · shadeup.dev · its alternatives →

20. 20
    An interactive map showing live wind farm generation in Great Britain▲245

    GB Renewables Map an energy experiment created entirely in my free time (day job is visualisation at Octopus Energy). It's an interactive map showing live generation for major wind farms in Great Britain, showing what each wind farm is generating both now and in the past, and where that generation is physically located. Animated weather data is from WeatherLayers and shows current and historic wind conditions on the map, providing context to wind generation around the country. History mode allows you to go back in time and see wind generation and weather conditions for a particular date and…

    2023 · renewables-map.robinhawkes.com · its alternatives →

21. 21RA
    Render audio waveforms to HTML canvas using WebGPU▲160

    Hey HN. I built this quick and dirty component to render audio waveforms using WebGPU. I just published it to NPM. It's the first time I use WebGPU and it's been a while since I write shaders. Feedback is very welcome! GitHub: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;mrkev&#x2F;webgpu-waveform Examples: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;aykev.dev&#x2F;webgpu-waveform

    2024 · its alternatives →

22. 22
    BrowserAI – Run LLMs directly in browser using WebGPU (open source)▲85

    Check out this impressive project that enables running LLMs entirely in the browser using WebGPU. Key features: - Zero token costs, no cloud infrastructure required - Complete data privacy through local processing - Simple 3-line code integration - Built on MLC and Transformer.js The benchmarks show smaller models can effectively handle many common tasks. Currently the project roadmap includes: - No-code AI pipeline builder - Browser-based RAG for document chat - Analytics&#x2F;logging - Model fine-tuning interface

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    I made a drag and drop CSS grid generator▲262

    CSS Grid Generator - a user-friendly tool designed for web developers to effortlessly create customizable CSS grids for seamless web development.

    2024 · cssgridgenerator.io · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Competitive Heatmap Analysis▲136

    Any website's heatmap data is at your fingertips

    2018 · its 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 →