head to head · open source
GDevelop vs ezEngine
GDevelop has 28,627 GitHub stars, 1,651 forks, 633 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. ezEngine has 2,036 stars, 266 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. GDevelop leads on adoption by 1,306% (28,627 vs 2,036 stars). GDevelop is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; ezEngine is written in C++ under MIT. GDevelop has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ezEngine 13%. GDevelop was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (3d-game-engine, 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| GDevelop | ezEngine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 266 |
| 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 ezEngine if
- You want the ezEngine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and ezEngine 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 ezEngine
ezEngine ezEngine is an open source C++ game engine. Watch the trailer below for a quick feature overview: Visit for documentation, samples and detailed build instructions. Supported Platforms The full engine functionality is currently only available on Windows, because the renderer uses Direct3D 11. Work on porting the renderer to Vulkan is ongoing. There is an experimental Linux port of the editor, but it is not yet functional enough for productive use. All non rendering related functionality compiles on Windows, Android, Linux and MacOS. See this page for details. Prebuilt Binaries See the releases for recent…
read the full ezEngine overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Gaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Gaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is GDevelop or ezEngine more popular?
GDevelop has 28,627 GitHub stars and ezEngine has 2,036. GDevelop has the larger community by that measure.
Are GDevelop and ezEngine free?
Both are open source. GDevelop has no licence declared in this registry, and ezEngine is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between GDevelop and ezEngine?
GDevelop is written in JavaScript and ezEngine 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 ezEngine?
Choose GDevelop if you want the larger community (28,627 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose ezEngine if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.