head to head · open source
GDevelop vs ebiten
GDevelop has 28,574 GitHub stars, 1,649 forks, 633 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ebiten has 13,612 stars, 801 forks, 296 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. GDevelop leads on adoption by 110% (28,574 vs 13,612 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%. GDevelop 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 | ★ 29K | ★ 14K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 801 |
| 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 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 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 ebiten
Ebitengine (v2) A dead simple 2D game engine for Go Ebitengine (formerly known as Ebiten) is an open source game engine for the Go programming language. Ebitengine's simple API allows you to quickly and easily develop 2D games that can be deployed across multiple platforms. Website (ebitengine.org) API Reference Cheat Sheet Awesome Ebitengine Platforms Windows macOS Linux FreeBSD Android (Cgo required) iOS (Cgo required) WebAssembly Nintendo Switch (Cgo required) Xbox (Cgo required) (Xbox support is limited and not available to everyone. Negotiations are currently underway to make it accessible to all.) For…
read the full ebiten overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is GDevelop or ebiten more popular?
GDevelop has 28,574 GitHub stars and ebiten has 13,612. 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 (28,574 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.