head to head · open source
GDevelop vs ebiten
GDevelop has 26,792 GitHub stars, 1,560 forks, 633 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ebiten has 13,501 stars, 791 forks, 296 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. GDevelop leads on adoption by 98% (26,792 vs 13,501 stars). GDevelop is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; ebiten is written in Go under Apache-2.0. GDevelop has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ebiten 6%. ebiten was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (game, 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
| GDevelop | ebiten | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 27K | ★ 14K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 791 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick GDevelop if
- You weight community size — 27K 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 ebiten if
- You want the ebiten feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and ebiten fits your workflow better
About GDevelop
GDevelop is an open source, cross platform game engine and editor for creating 2D, 3D, and multiplayer games without writing code. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and targets mobile (iOS, Android), desktop, and web platforms. Built with JavaScript, React, Electron, PixiJS, and Three.js, it combines a visual event based system with AI assisted development to lower the barrier to entry for game creation.
read the full GDevelop overview →
About ebiten
Ebitengine (v2) is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed 2D game engine for the Go programming language, built for developers who want a simple API for writing 2D games that deploy across desktop, mobile, web and console platforms.
read the full ebiten overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is GDevelop or ebiten more popular?
GDevelop has 26,792 GitHub stars and ebiten has 13,501. GDevelop has the larger community by that measure.
Are GDevelop and ebiten free?
Both are open source. GDevelop has no licence declared in this registry, and ebiten is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between GDevelop and ebiten?
GDevelop is written in JavaScript and ebiten in Go. 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 ebiten?
Choose GDevelop if you want the larger community (26,792 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose ebiten if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.