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LispWorks

Freemium#49 of 65 in Integrated Development Environments

LispWorks: A full interactive Common Lisp IDE, with a free personal edition and paid hobbyist licenses. Ranked #49 of 65 in Integrated Development Environments by our editors (4.3/10); pricing: Free plan; best for common Lisp developers needing a full interactive IDE.

4.3/10Editor score

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At a glance

Editor score
4.3 / 10
Pricing
Free plan
Best for
Common Lisp developers needing a full interactive IDE
Free plan
Yes
Founded
2005 · Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
Facts checked
22 Sep 2026

Where it wins
- Combines a Lisp-aware editor, Listener, debugger, and object Inspector
- Includes compilation, coverage, profiling, stepping, and tracing tools
- Supports Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris
Where it doesn't
- The Personal Edition limits sessions to 5 hours
- Hobbyist licenses are restricted to non-commercial, non-academic individual use
- Commercial development requires Professional or Enterprise editions

Our verdict on LispWorks

LispWorks brings an ANSI Common Lisp implementation and an integrated desktop IDE together for developers who want to work interactively in Common Lisp. Its editor provides Lisp-aware syntax coloring and source location, while the Listener supports evaluating code in the environment. A graphical debugger, object Inspector, compiler, and runtime system round out the core. This focus makes it a fit for Common Lisp developers seeking one environment for editing, execution, and investigation, rather than a general-purpose IDE for several languages.

The tools extend beyond editing and debugging: LispWorks includes incremental compilation and dynamic loading, a system tool supporting defsystem and ASDF, code coverage tools, compilation-error browsers, and an execution-time profiler, stepper, and tracer. Its CAPI portable GUI toolkit adds GUI development to the environment. The desktop product supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, with additional listed downloads for FreeBSD and Solaris in the Personal Edition and hobbyist licenses. This breadth within Common Lisp will matter more to developers invested in its ecosystem than to teams choosing an IDE primarily for broad integrations.

The Personal Edition is for personal and educational programming, but each session is limited to 5 hours. Paid hobbyist options are one-time licenses: Hobbyist 32-bit is $500, Hobbyist 64-bit $750, HobbyistDV 32-bit $1,000, and HobbyistDV 64-bit $1,500. These licenses cover non-commercial, non-academic individual use; commercial development requires Professional or Enterprise editions. Choose LispWorks if you need its integrated Common Lisp workflow and your use fits the relevant edition. Developers seeking a multi-language environment, or a commercial license without moving to Professional or Enterprise, should look elsewhere.

Your product? Our editors can test LispWorks in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →

LispWorks pricing

Plans Free planFreemium A usable free plan; paid tiers unlock the limits above. Prices checked 22 Sep 2026.

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LispWorks fact sheet

Free plan	Yes
Paid from	Not verified
Supported operating systems	Not verified
Integrated debugger	Yes
Integrated testing tools	Yes
Build tools	Yes
Project management	Not verified
Dev container support	Not verified
Deployment	Desktop
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Email, Phone, Community, Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise (editorial estimate)
Pricing	Free plan (source)
Website	lispworks.com
Facts checked	22 Sep 2026

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Featured on iTechGuides

LispWorks is listed in our Integrated Development Environments directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

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Last updated 7 Oct 2026 · How we research and update