head to head · open source
GDevelop vs butano
GDevelop has 28,729 GitHub stars, 1,652 forks, 633 open issues and last shipped yesterday. butano has 1,828 stars, 148 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. GDevelop leads on adoption by 1,472% (28,729 vs 1,828 stars). GDevelop is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; butano is written in C++ under Zlib. GDevelop has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, butano 8%. GDevelop was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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
| GDevelop | butano | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Custom / other | Zlib |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 148 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick GDevelop if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick butano if
- You want the butano feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and butano fits your workflow better
About GDevelop
GDevelop is a full featured, no code, open source game development software. You can build 2D, 3D and multiplayer games for mobile (iOS, Android), desktop and the web. GDevelop is designed to be fast and incredibly intuitive: make games using an easy to understand yet powerful event based system and modular behaviors. Create with AI that assists or builds alongside you. Getting started Are you interested in contributing to GDevelop for the first time? Take a look at the list of good first issues , good first contributions or the "🏐 not too hard" cards on the Roadmap. Games made with GDevelop Find GDevelop games…
read the full GDevelop overview →
About butano
Butano Butano is a modern C++ high level engine for the Game Boy Advance. Features Create and display sprites, backgrounds, text, raster effects and more with only one line of C++ code. Custom standard library without heap allocations nor exceptions, based on ETL. Import and use your own assets with ease. Multiple development tools like asserts, emulator logging and code profiling. Based on modern C++ concepts like shared ownership and RAII. Detailed documentation. Multiple examples of most aspects of the engine. The source code and assets of two full games (Butano Fighter and Varooom 3D) are provided with this…
read the full butano overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is GDevelop or butano more popular?
GDevelop has 28,729 GitHub stars and butano has 1,828. GDevelop has the larger community by that measure.
Are GDevelop and butano free?
Both are open source. GDevelop has no licence declared in this registry, and butano is licensed under Zlib. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between GDevelop and butano?
GDevelop is written in JavaScript and butano 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, GDevelop or butano?
Choose GDevelop if you want the larger community (28,729 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose butano if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.