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LuaJIT vs Luau: catalog facts
LuaJIT	Luau
Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
High performance with a small memory footprint Drop-in replacement for the Lua 5.1 library	Optional gradual typing with strong type inference Fast interpreter with an optional JIT on x64 and arm64
Targets Lua 5.1 rather than newer Lua versions Usually built from source rather than installed from binaries	Not fully interchangeable with standard Lua code and libraries Mainly useful when embedded in a host application
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.