head to head · open source
raylib vs colyseus
raylib has 34,793 GitHub stars, 3,301 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. colyseus has 7,311 stars, 665 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped today. raylib leads on adoption by 376% (34,793 vs 7,311 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; colyseus is written in TypeScript under MIT. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, colyseus 9%. colyseus was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| raylib | colyseus | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 7.3K |
| License | Zlib | MIT |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 665 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick raylib if
- You weight community size — 35K stars and counting
- You want the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick colyseus if
- You want the colyseus feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and colyseus fits your workflow better
About raylib
raylib is an open source, Zlib licensed C programming library for building videogames and graphical applications, aimed at programmers who would rather write code directly than work inside a visual game engine editor.
read the full raylib overview →
About colyseus
Colyseus is an MIT licensed authoritative multiplayer framework for Node.js that provides synchronizable data structures, room based matchmaking, and client SDKs for TypeScript, React, Unity, Godot, GameMaker, Defold, Construct, Haxe, and C, aimed at developers building realtime and turn based multiplayer games.
read the full colyseus overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or colyseus more popular?
raylib has 34,793 GitHub stars and colyseus has 7,311. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and colyseus free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and colyseus under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and colyseus?
raylib is written in C and colyseus in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, raylib or colyseus?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (34,793 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose colyseus if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.