head to head · open source
Babylon.js vs aframe
Babylon.js has 26,298 GitHub stars, 3,724 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped yesterday. aframe has 17,689 stars, 4,409 forks, 338 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Babylon.js leads on adoption by 49% (26,298 vs 17,689 stars). Babylon.js is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; aframe is written in JavaScript under MIT. Babylon.js has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, aframe 25%. Babylon.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (3d, game-development, game-engine), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Babylon.js | aframe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 18K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-07-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.7K | ⑂ 4.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Babylon.js if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick aframe if
- You want the aframe feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and aframe fits your workflow better
About Babylon.js
Babylon.js Getting started? Play directly with the Babylon.js API using our playground. It also contains a lot of samples to learn how to use it. Any questions? Here is our official forum. CDN ⚠️ WARNING: The CDN should not be used in production environments. The purpose of our CDN is to serve Babylon packages to users learning how to use the platform or running small experiments. Once you've built an application and are ready to share it with the world at large, you should serve all packages from your own CDN. For the preview release, use the following URLs: A list of additional references can be found here…
read the full Babylon.js overview →
About aframe
A Frame A web framework for building browser based 3D, AR and VR experiences. Site — Docs — Examples — School — Community Examples Find more examples on the homepage, A Week of A Frame, and WebVR Directory. Features :eyeglasses: Virtual Reality Made Simple : A Frame handles the 3D and WebXR boilerplate required to get running across platforms including mobile, desktop, and all headsets (compatible with a WebXR capable browser) just by dropping in . :heart: Declarative HTML : HTML is easy to read and copy and paste. Since A Frame can be used from HTML, A Frame is accessible to everyone…
read the full aframe overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Babylon.js or aframe more popular?
Babylon.js has 26,298 GitHub stars and aframe has 17,689. Babylon.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are Babylon.js and aframe free?
Both are open source. Babylon.js is licensed under Apache-2.0 and aframe under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Babylon.js and aframe?
Babylon.js is written in TypeScript and aframe in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Babylon.js or aframe?
Choose Babylon.js if you want the larger community (26,298 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose aframe if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.