head to head · open source
aframe vs engine
aframe has 17,636 GitHub stars, 4,396 forks, 338 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. engine has 16,890 stars, 2,000 forks, 471 open issues and last shipped today. aframe leads on adoption by 4% (17,636 vs 16,890 stars). aframe is written in JavaScript under MIT; engine is written in JavaScript under MIT. aframe has attracted 25% as many forks as stars, engine 12%. engine was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (game-development, game-engine, gamedev), 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
| aframe | engine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-07-13 | 2026-09-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick aframe if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick engine if
- You want the engine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and engine fits your workflow better
About aframe
A Frame is an MIT licensed JavaScript web framework built on top of three.js that lets anyone who can write HTML build browser based 3D, augmented reality and virtual reality experiences running on desktop, mobile and any WebXR capable headset.
read the full aframe overview →
About engine
PlayCanvas Engine is an open source, MIT licensed JavaScript and TypeScript runtime for building interactive 3D apps, games and visualizations that run in any browser on any device, built on WebGL2 and WebGPU.
read the full engine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is aframe or engine more popular?
aframe has 17,636 GitHub stars and engine has 16,890. aframe has the larger community by that measure.
Are aframe and engine free?
Both are open source. aframe is licensed under MIT and engine under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between aframe and engine?
aframe is written in JavaScript and engine 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, aframe or engine?
Choose aframe if you want the larger community (17,636 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose engine if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.