Lua
Lua is a lightweight scripting language designed primarily for embedded use in applications.
It features a small core written in 
C/C++, automatic memory management, fast execution through a simple virtual machine, a flexible table-based data model, and a standard library that fits in a few hundred kilobytes, making it suitable for games, embedded systems, and extensible software.
For example, Lua is embedded in 
OpenResty for dynamic request processing, in 
Tarantool as a scripting layer for data transformations, and in the 
Kong Gateway API gateway for routing, authentication, and plugins.
According to our data, Lua is the 4th most popular programming language on the web.
It has 5.3% of the programming language market share and is detected on 4.4% of all websites.
- 🏠 Website
- 🔗 Links
- 👨👩👦👦 Community
Wikipedia
groups.google.com/g/lua-l
Reddit
Stack Overflow📊 Rankings and Market Share
- Programming Languages
- Rank: 4
- Market share: 5.3%
🏆 Lua Awards
- 🥉 Third most popular in Germany in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in Korea in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in Australia in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in France in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in Russia in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in Slovakia in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in Indonesia in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in Pakistan in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in Mexico in the Programming Languages category.
- 🥉 Third most popular in Chile in the Programming Languages category.
⚡ Sites Built With Lua
We have data on 158,848 websites that use the Lua programming language. Here is a list of some of the top ranked ones.
The highest rated site using Lua is p**nhub.com.
| # | Website | Rank | Country | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #26 | United States | English | |
| 2 | #49 | English | ||
| 3 |  shopify.com |
#51 | Canada | English |
| 4 | #84 | Switzerland | English | |
| 5 | #120 | English | ||
| 6 |  line.me |
#179 | Japan | English |
| 7 | #185 | English | ||
| 8 | #222 | Singapore | English | |
| 9 | #294 | United States | English | |
| 10 | #361 | United States | English | |
| 11 | #369 | American English | ||
| 12 | #401 | Argentina | Spanish | |
| 13 | #403 | France | French | |
| 14 | #435 | English | ||
| 15 | #440 | Japan | Japanese | |
| 16 | #453 | English | ||
| 17 | #469 | Spain | American English | |
| 18 | #489 | China | English | |
| 19 | #500 | Argentina | Spanish | |
| 20 | #516 | Norway | English |
📈 Usage Statistics
Most of the sites that use Lua:
- are located in the United States
- have content in English
- use the .com domain extension
- fall into the Online Shopping category.
Most of the sites using Lua are from the United States, the United Kingdom, and China.
- United States 19.4%
- United Kingdom 7.9%
- China 5.4%
- India 5%
- Germany 4.8%
- Korea 4.6%
- Australia 4.4%
- Netherlands 4%
- Canada 3.8%
- Other 40.7%
Most Lua users speak English or Chinese.
- English 73.1%
- Chinese 3.4%
- German 2.9%
- Korean 2.6%
- Spanish 2.6%
- French 1.9%
- Japanese 1.9%
- Russian 1.7%
- Portuguese 1.2%
- Other 8.7%
The Lua programming language is especially popular on .com top-level domains.
- .com 60.7%
- .org 3.1%
- .co.uk 2.5%
- .net 2.4%
- .com.au 1.9%
- .de 1.9%
- .ru 1.4%
- .sk 1.1%
- .ca 1.1%
- Other 23.9%
The primary market segments for websites utilizing Lua include online shopping, marketing and merchandising, and fashion and beauty.
- Online Shopping 31.5%
- Marketing/Merchandising 11.4%
- Fashion/Beauty 9.8%
- Business 9.5%
- Blogs/Wiki 3.9%
- Entertainment 3.6%
- Internet Services 2.8%
- Sports 2.6%
- Education/Reference 2.3%
- Other 22.6%
🕵️ Similar Technologies
These are some of the best Lua alternatives.
Java
Scala
CFML
Erlang🆚 Compare Alternatives
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Dart💬 Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Lua's headquarters?
Lua is located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Which country uses Lua the most?
The majority of Lua users are from the United States.
Who uses Lua?
According to our data, Lua is used on thousands of sites, including such established ones as wyze.com,
shopify.com, and reuters.com.
Is Lua used on government websites?
In total, we found Lua on 23 government sites in the United States.
Do academic institutions use Lua?
Yes. Overall, we know of 47 academic websites in the United States that use Lua.
How does Lua compare to the competition?
Lua is one of the most popular programming languages, second only to 
JavaScript, 
PHP, and 
C#.
👉 See Also
- ✨ Related technologies
🗃️ About This Data
- We evaluate the popularity of technologies based on the number of websites where we detect their usage.
- Technologies without a detectable web footprint, and those we do not track, are not reflected in the calculated market share.
- This report is based on the analysis of 3,604,716 websites.
- Statistics were last calculated on .
- For more details, see our methodology and disclaimer.