There is also SILE (https://github.com/simoncozens/sile), which has been in development since 2012 and addresses these points in the docs: SILE is similar to TeX—from which it borrows some concepts and even syntax and algorithms—but the similarities end there. Rather than being a derivative of the TeX family SILE is a new typesetting and layout engine written from the ground up using modern technologies and borrowing some ideas from graphical systems such as InDesign.
The documentation includes "SILE versus TeX" section; some of the quotes from it: "one of the things that TeX can’t do particularly well is typesetting on a grid. This is something of a must have feature for anyone typesetting bibles. Typesetting on a grid means that each line of text will line up between the front and back of each piece of paper producing much less visual bleed-through when printed on thin paper. This is virtually impossible to accomplish in TeX. There are various hacks to try to make it happen, but they’re all horrible. In SILE, you can alter the behaviour of the typesetter and write a very short add-on package to enable grid typesetting."
"SILE does not benefit from the large ecosystem and community that has grown up around TeX; in that sense, TeX will remain streets ahead of SILE for some time to come. But in terms of core capabilities, SILE is already certainly equivalent to, if not somewhat more advanced than, TeX."
The documentation includes "SILE versus TeX" section; some of the quotes from it: "one of the things that TeX can’t do particularly well is typesetting on a grid. This is something of a must have feature for anyone typesetting bibles. Typesetting on a grid means that each line of text will line up between the front and back of each piece of paper producing much less visual bleed-through when printed on thin paper. This is virtually impossible to accomplish in TeX. There are various hacks to try to make it happen, but they’re all horrible. In SILE, you can alter the behaviour of the typesetter and write a very short add-on package to enable grid typesetting."
"SILE does not benefit from the large ecosystem and community that has grown up around TeX; in that sense, TeX will remain streets ahead of SILE for some time to come. But in terms of core capabilities, SILE is already certainly equivalent to, if not somewhat more advanced than, TeX."