Brimstone JavaScript engine
Shares rank 6 of 7 JavaScript engines by recommenders
Rust JavaScript engine that passes about 97% of the ES2025 spec, described as faster than alternatives and built by one developer. Critics note heavy unsafe code and no license.
Rust JavaScript engine that passes about 97% of the ES2025 spec, described as faster than alternatives and built by one developer. Critics note heavy unsafe code and no license.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 62%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
High ES2025 spec compliance
“it is faster, nearly just as full featured (almost full ES2025) and last but not least, a single person project”
Comment from 15 Nov 2025 in “Boa: A standard-conforming embeddable JavaScript engine written in Rust” “impressively compliant, considering it's just a one man project”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust” “for passing 97% of the spec at this size is pretty impressive”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust” Impressive work for a solo developer
“it is faster, nearly just as full featured (almost full ES2025) and last but not least, a single person project”
Comment from 15 Nov 2025 in “Boa: A standard-conforming embeddable JavaScript engine written in Rust” “impressively compliant, considering it's just a one man project”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Heavy use of unsafe code
“It’s a bit baffling that this engine would choose to implement unsafe garbage collection.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust” “this repo seems like it uses quite a bit of unsafe, by their own admission”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust” “this project is using a ton of unsafe”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust” No license specified
“Surprised at the lack of a license though.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust” “There's no license I can see”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Brimstone: ES2025 JavaScript engine written in Rust”
Other JavaScript engines people recommend
The four most recommended other JavaScript engines, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V8 JavaScript engine | 59 | 36 | 62% | 12 | — | — |
| QuickJS | 33 | 8 | 80% | 10 | — | Approved |
| MicroQuickJS | 19 | 8 | 70% | 3 | — | — |
| JavaScriptCore | 14 | 5 | 74% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Brimstone JavaScript engineThis page | 8 | 5 | 62% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“That's a staggering accomplishment.”
“Love the name of the executable”
“very cool to see this get posted”
“Great to see more projects not opting into licenses which permit megacorp exploitation by default”
“There's no license I can see”
“this project is using a ton of unsafe”
“You can embed this one in your Rust programs. No linking to C/C++. All native Rust.”
“this repo seems like it uses quite a bit of unsafe, by their own admission”
“Its definitely interesting! One optimization that they have that Boa needs to implement is ropes for our string type”
“for passing 97% of the spec at this size is pretty impressive”
“Surprised at the lack of a license though.”
“It’s a bit baffling that this engine would choose to implement unsafe garbage collection.”
“impressively compliant, considering it's just a one man project”
“it is faster, nearly just as full featured (almost full ES2025) and last but not least, a single person project”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.