If you don't care about the DSP units you can pick up a CPLD kit for ~$20 [1]. [...

duskwuff · on Dec 12, 2016

You can also get a "real" -- albeit small -- FPGA from Lattice for $25:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/lattice-semiconduct...

The Arty is a much more capable board, though.

thatcat · on Dec 12, 2016

What do you like about the Arty?

I'm considering the parallella board, which is around the same price.

https://www.parallella.org/board/

duskwuff · on Dec 12, 2016

Between the two I'd recommend the Arty without hesitation.

The Parallella is intended as a demonstration board for the Epiphany SOC. The $99 model has no GPIOs or JTAG interface, making it essentially unusable for FPGA development; the higher-end models will still be awkward to work with.

The Arty is intended for FPGA development, and is much better suited for it -- built-in JTAG controller, lots of GPIOs on easily accessible connectors, user I/Os, etc.