head to head · open source
bevy vs OpenJK
bevy has 49,474 GitHub stars, 5,010 forks, 3,418 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. OpenJK has 2,322 stars, 745 forks, 284 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. bevy leads on adoption by 2,031% (49,474 vs 2,322 stars). bevy is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; OpenJK is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. bevy has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, OpenJK 32%. bevy was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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
| bevy | OpenJK | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 49K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-09-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 745 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick bevy if
- You weight community size — 49K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OpenJK if
- You want the OpenJK feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and OpenJK fits your workflow better
About bevy
What is Bevy? Bevy is a refreshingly simple data driven game engine built in Rust. It is free and open source forever! WARNING Bevy is still in the early stages of development. Important features are missing. Documentation is sparse. A new version of Bevy containing breaking changes to the API is released approximately once every 3 months. We provide migration guides, but we can't guarantee migrations will always be easy. Use only if you are willing to work in this environment. MSRV: Bevy relies heavily on improvements in the Rust language and compiler. As a result, the Minimum Supported Rust Version (MSRV) is…
About OpenJK
OpenJK OpenJK is a community effort to maintain and improve the game and engine powering Jedi Academy and Jedi Outcast, while maintaining full backwards compatibility with the existing games and mods. This project does not intend to add major features, rebalance, or otherwise modify core gameplay. Our aims are to: Improve the stability of the engine by fixing bugs and improving performance. Support more hardware (x86 64, Arm, Apple Silicon) and software platforms (Linux, macOS) Provide a clean base from which new code modifications can be made. Supported Games Please direct support queries, discussions and…
read the full OpenJK overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is bevy or OpenJK more popular?
bevy has 49,474 GitHub stars and OpenJK has 2,322. bevy has the larger community by that measure.
Are bevy and OpenJK free?
Both are open source. bevy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenJK under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between bevy and OpenJK?
bevy is written in Rust and OpenJK in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, bevy or OpenJK?
Choose bevy if you want the larger community (49,474 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenJK if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.