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Tools · Programming languages · Alternatives

COBOL alternatives

As of 4 November 2026, 39 programming languages are named by companies instead of COBOL: Python by 34,668 companies, Java by 15,900, C# by 11,531.

As of 4 November 2026 · refreshed daily · counts move as websites, DNS and career sites are re-read.

COBOL, companies in postings
522
Most used alternative
Python · 34,668
Fastest hiring, 90 days
Python
Alternatives ranked
39
Catalogue
T-1.0.1-prov
01Ranked by evidence

Programming languages companies choose instead of COBOL

Companies naming each tool in their own postings, and postings in the last 90 days. Bars are relative to the category leader.

#AlternativeCompaniescompaniesvs COBOLpostings, 90 dCompare
1
PythonPSF
34,6686641%248,462COBOL vs Python →
2
JavaOracle
15,9003046%97,842COBOL vs Java →
3
C#Microsoft
11,5312209%45,032COBOL vs C# →
4
C++ISO C++ Committee
9,8051878%60,903COBOL vs C++ →
5
PHPThe PHP Group
7,3021399%15,984COBOL vs PHP →
6
GoGoogle
7,0471350%29,064COBOL vs Go →
7
RR Foundation
7,0021341%22,786COBOL vs R →
8
CISO C Committee
4,350833%19,202COBOL vs C →
9
KotlinJetBrains
3,247622%10,155COBOL vs Kotlin →
10
RustRust Foundation
2,950565%11,599COBOL vs Rust →
11
SwiftApple
2,840544%8,346COBOL vs Swift →
12
ScalaEPFL
2,062395%7,445COBOL vs Scala →
13
RubyRuby Association
1,922368%6,272COBOL vs Ruby →
14
PerlThe Perl Foundation
1,808346%9,475COBOL vs Perl →
15
Salesforce ApexSalesforce
1,733332%5,354COBOL vs Salesforce Apex →
16
ABAPSAP
1,491286%7,056COBOL vs ABAP →
17
Visual BasicMicrosoft
1,350259%3,144COBOL vs Visual Basic →
18
Apache GroovyApache Software Foundation
1,011194%2,540COBOL vs Apache Groovy →
19
Objective-CApple
878168%1,614COBOL vs Objective-C →
20
VB.NETMicrosoft
838161%1,542COBOL vs VB.NET →
21
DartGoogle
781150%1,105COBOL vs Dart →
22
DelphiEmbarcadero
42982%1,366COBOL vs Delphi →
23
FortranFortran Standards Committee
32462%1,090COBOL vs Fortran →
24
LuaPUC-Rio
27553%668COBOL vs Lua →
25
SolidityEthereum Foundation
27553%575COBOL vs Solidity →
26
Assembly Language
27252%742COBOL vs Assembly Language →
27
JuliaJulia Project
25449%565COBOL vs Julia →
28
ElixirElixir Core Team
21441%433COBOL vs Elixir →
29
RPG (IBM i)IBM
20439%361COBOL vs RPG (IBM i) →
30
AdaAda Core / ISO
17734%831COBOL vs Ada →
31
AL (Business Central)Microsoft
15229%290COBOL vs AL (Business Central) →
32
REXXIBM
14027%384COBOL vs REXX →
33
X++Microsoft
13426%243COBOL vs X++ →
34
HLSLMicrosoft
10921%197soon
35
HaskellHaskell.org
10420%233soon
36
ClojureClojure
9618%161soon
37
Lisp
8316%189soon
38
ErlangEricsson
7715%138soon
39
F#Microsoft
7414%132soon
124,431 companies name a programming language in their postings.

Filter on any of them, or on COBOL users who also name an alternative, and open the person who owns the stack.

Get the full list Watch this category

Start free, no card. The first 20 are above; e-mails are verified at the mail server when you open them.

Cite this

Quote the sentence with the date and the link. The numbers change daily; the link always shows the current ones.

39 programming languages are named by companies instead of COBOL: Python by 34,668 companies, Java by 15,900, C# by 11,531, measured from their own job postings. (Breaknorm, 4 November 2026, https://breaknorm.co/tools/cobol/alternatives)
How we know

Read from the source, not self-reported

Every number on this page can be traced to a page we crawled or a posting we read. Full methodology →

  • RankingCompanies whose own postings name the tool as the team's system, from the Breaknorm technology catalogue T-1.0.1-prov. Editions are folded into their parent product.
  • 90-day postingsOpen postings first seen or posted in the last 90 days that name the tool.
  • Not includedRatings, prices, feature claims, sponsored positions.
FAQ

COBOL alternatives: questions

What is the most used alternative to COBOL?

Python: 34,668 companies name it in their own job postings, against 522 for COBOL.

How is this list ranked?

By the number of companies whose own postings name the tool as the team's system (Breaknorm technology catalogue T-1.0.1-prov), then by postings in the last 90 days. No ratings, no vendor input, no sponsored positions.

Does this say which is better?

No. It says who uses what, by company size, industry and country, so you can see which tools companies like yours choose. For features and prices, read the vendors.

Can I get the companies on any of these?

Yes: click the tool, see the first 20 companies, and sign up for the full list with verified e-mails. Counting is free.

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