head to head · open source
GDevelop vs engine
GDevelop has 28,518 GitHub stars, 1,645 forks, 633 open issues and last shipped yesterday. engine has 17,229 stars, 2,051 forks, 471 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GDevelop leads on adoption by 66% (28,518 vs 17,229 stars). GDevelop is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; engine is written in JavaScript under MIT. GDevelop has attracted 6% 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 4 topic tags (game-development, game-engine, gamedev, hacktoberfest), 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 | engine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 17K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| 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 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 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 engine
PlayCanvas Engine PlayCanvas is an open source game engine built on WebGL2 and WebGPU. Use it to create interactive 3D apps, games and visualizations that run in any browser on any device. English 中文 日本語 한글 Install Or scaffold a full project in seconds with create playcanvas : Usage Here's a super simple Hello World example a spinning cube! Want to play with the code yourself? Edit it on CodePen. A full guide to setting up a local development environment based on the PlayCanvas Engine can be found here. Features PlayCanvas is a fully featured game engine. 🧊 Graphics Advanced 2D + 3D graphics engine built on…
read the full engine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is GDevelop or engine more popular?
GDevelop has 28,518 GitHub stars and engine has 17,229. GDevelop has the larger community by that measure.
Are GDevelop and engine free?
Both are open source. GDevelop has no licence declared in this registry, and engine is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between GDevelop and engine?
GDevelop 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, GDevelop or engine?
Choose GDevelop if you want the larger community (28,518 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose engine if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.