head to head · open source
GDevelop vs horizon
GDevelop has 28,094 GitHub stars, 1,624 forks, 633 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. horizon has 2,537 stars, 173 forks, 438 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GDevelop leads on adoption by 1,007% (28,094 vs 2,537 stars). GDevelop is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; horizon is written in Rust under MIT. GDevelop has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, horizon 7%. horizon was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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 | horizon | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-26 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 173 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick GDevelop if
- You weight community size — 28K 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 horizon if
- You want the horizon feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and horizon 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 horizon
Website · Download · Documentation · Release notes · Roadmap · Project status · Contributing Horizon Horizon is Minecraft: Java Edition 26.3 rewritten in Rust: a native game that reads the same worlds, follows the same rules and generates the same terrain as the Java game, and is checked against it by 281 differential harnesses. You play it through a small launcher, on the files from your own copy of Minecraft. It is free, open source and unofficial. Not an official Minecraft product. Not approved by or associated with Mojang or Microsoft. Horizon contains no Minecraft code, assets or data: you need your own…
read the full horizon overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is GDevelop or horizon more popular?
GDevelop has 28,094 GitHub stars and horizon has 2,537. GDevelop has the larger community by that measure.
Are GDevelop and horizon free?
Both are open source. GDevelop has no licence declared in this registry, and horizon is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between GDevelop and horizon?
GDevelop is written in JavaScript and horizon 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 horizon?
Choose GDevelop if you want the larger community (28,094 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose horizon if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.