# LiveCode

5 Hacker News commenters recommended LiveCode and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a cross-platform successor to HyperCard that can import HyperCard stacks, though critics object to its move away from an open source version.

## Why people recommend it

- Seen as a HyperCard successor (2 comments): "LiveCode is its spiritual successor IMHO. Cross platform too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47285751)) "LiveCode is an excellent replacement, at least for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49062694))

## What people warn about

- Dropped its open source version (6 comments): "they've discontinued the open source version and have pivoted to an AI-assisted drag and drop UI builder" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49062308)) "though it gave up on opensource" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48755479)) "Still annoyed by the rug-pull the LiveCode folks did for their opensource version" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50193099))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [HyperCard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hypercard.md): 62 recommend
- [QBasic](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qbasic.md): 27 recommend
- [QuickBASIC](https://hackerapproved.com/p/quickbasic.md): 8 recommend
- [Folk Computer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/folk-computer.md): 6 recommend
- [Glamorous Toolkit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/glamorous-toolkit.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://livecode.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "LiveCode", https://hackerapproved.com/p/livecode/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).