head to head · open source
GDevelop vs melonJS
GDevelop has 27,074 GitHub stars, 1,568 forks, 633 open issues and last shipped yesterday. melonJS has 6,399 stars, 662 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. GDevelop leads on adoption by 323% (27,074 vs 6,399 stars). GDevelop is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; melonJS is written in JavaScript under MIT. GDevelop has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, melonJS 10%. GDevelop was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (2d-game-engine, 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 | melonJS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 27K | ★ 6.4K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 662 |
| 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 melonJS if
- You want the melonJS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and melonJS 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 melonJS
melonJS is a modern, lightweight HTML5 2.5D game engine for indie developers and web game programmers who want a full game stack in a single dependency free ES module.
read the full melonJS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is GDevelop or melonJS more popular?
GDevelop has 27,074 GitHub stars and melonJS has 6,399. GDevelop has the larger community by that measure.
Are GDevelop and melonJS free?
Both are open source. GDevelop has no licence declared in this registry, and melonJS is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between GDevelop and melonJS?
GDevelop is written in JavaScript and melonJS 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 melonJS?
Choose GDevelop if you want the larger community (27,074 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose melonJS if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.