head to head · open source
GDevelop vs ggez
GDevelop has 27,189 GitHub stars, 1,568 forks, 633 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ggez has 4,699 stars, 441 forks, 71 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. GDevelop leads on adoption by 479% (27,189 vs 4,699 stars). GDevelop is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; ggez is written in Rust under MIT. GDevelop has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ggez 9%. GDevelop was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (game, game-development, 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 | ggez | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 27K | ★ 4.7K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-06 | 2026-08-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 441 |
| 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 ggez if
- You want the ggez feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and ggez 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 ggez
ggez is a MIT licensed Rust game framework that gives developers a lightweight, cross platform base for building 2D and 3D games with a LÖVE inspired API.
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Frequently asked questions
Is GDevelop or ggez more popular?
GDevelop has 27,189 GitHub stars and ggez has 4,699. GDevelop has the larger community by that measure.
Are GDevelop and ggez free?
Both are open source. GDevelop has no licence declared in this registry, and ggez is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between GDevelop and ggez?
GDevelop is written in JavaScript and ggez in Rust. 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 ggez?
Choose GDevelop if you want the larger community (27,189 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose ggez if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.