Roto
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 7 of 14 scripting languages by recommenders
A Rust-style scripting language that is easy to embed in Rust apps and compiles at runtime, so logic can change without rebuilding the host. Critics say it is moderately domain specific.
A Rust-style scripting language that is easy to embed in Rust apps and compiles at runtime, so logic can change without rebuilding the host. Critics say it is moderately domain specific.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Rust-like syntax and static typing
“Rust-style syntax, static type checking, sane type system, easily embedded”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Hyprland 0.55 announced the switch to Lua for its config files” “The syntax is of course very Rusty, which is cool.”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “One year of Roto, a compiled scripting language for Rust” “being similar to Rust has many advantages”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “One year of Roto, a compiled scripting language for Rust” Edit logic without rebuilding host
“You can edit your logic without rebuilding and restarting the host application”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “One year of Roto, a compiled scripting language for Rust” “Extensibility and hot reloading.”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “One year of Roto, a compiled scripting language for Rust” Easy to embed and set up
“Rust-style syntax, static type checking, sane type system, easily embedded”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Hyprland 0.55 announced the switch to Lua for its config files” “a good reason to use this is setup being easier”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “One year of Roto, a compiled scripting language for Rust” Fast with numbers
“So the nuanced take is that Roto is fast with numbers”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “One year of Roto, a compiled scripting language for Rust” “mlua and roto are some of the fastest”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “One year of Roto, a compiled scripting language for Rust”
Other scripting languages people recommend
The four most recommended other scripting languages, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lua | 186 | 62 | 75% | 12 | 10 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| awk | 67 | 18 | 79% | 12 | — | Approved |
| AutoHotkey | 44 | 5 | 90% | 11 | — | Approved |
| GDScript | 22 | 16 | 58% | 9 | — | — |
| RotoThis page | 13 | 3 | 81% | 4 | — | Approved |
What people said
16 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I'd like to see something like Rhai or Roto take off which has a natural upgrade path to Rust.”
“Roto is the closest I've seen but it's moderately domain specific”
“Not odd to have those data types at all”
“Rust-style syntax, static type checking, sane type system, easily embedded”
“The fact that Roto gets compiled at the runtime of the Rust application is very important.”
“Happy how far it has come already.”
“The implementation feels odd to me, though.”
“mlua and roto are some of the fastest”
“being similar to Rust has many advantages”
“a good reason to use this is setup being easier”
“Extensibility and hot reloading.”
“You can edit your logic without rebuilding and restarting the host application”
“The syntax is of course very Rusty, which is cool.”
“So the nuanced take is that Roto is fast with numbers”
“Very cool! I have been working on scripting in Rust recently”
“the confusion added by having custom built-ins like this for one particular domain”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.