head to head · open source
Godot vs dhewm3
Godot has 119,594 GitHub stars, 27,357 forks, 18,870 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. dhewm3 has 2,193 stars, 430 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Godot leads on adoption by 5,353% (119,594 vs 2,193 stars). Godot is written in C++ under MIT; dhewm3 is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Godot has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, dhewm3 20%. Godot was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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
| Godot | dhewm3 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 120K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-06-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 27K | ⑂ 430 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Godot if
- You weight community size — 120K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dhewm3 if
- You want the dhewm3 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and dhewm3 fits your workflow better
About Godot
Godot Engine 2D and 3D cross platform game engine Godot Engine is a feature packed, cross platform game engine to create 2D and 3D games from a unified interface. It provides a comprehensive set of common tools, so that users can focus on making games without having to reinvent the wheel. Games can be exported with one click to a number of platforms, including the major desktop platforms (Linux, macOS, Windows), mobile platforms (Android, iOS), as well as Web based platforms and consoles. Free, open source and community driven Godot is completely free and open source under the very permissive MIT license. No…
read the full Godot overview →
About dhewm3
ABOUT dhewm 3 is a Doom 3 GPL source port, known to work on at least Windows, Linux, macOS and FreeBSD. The goal of dhewm 3 is bring DOOM 3 with the help of SDL to all suitable platforms. Bugs present in the original DOOM 3 will be fixed (when identified) without altering the original gameplay. The official homepage is: Mods supported by dhewm3: Mod SDK for dhewm3: The project is hosted at: Download the latest release: Consult the FAQ at: Report bugs here: CHANGES Compared to the original DOOM 3 , the changes of dhewm 3 worth mentioning are: 64 bit port SDL for low level OS support, OpenGL and input handling…
read the full dhewm3 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Godot or dhewm3 more popular?
Godot has 119,594 GitHub stars and dhewm3 has 2,193. Godot has the larger community by that measure.
Are Godot and dhewm3 free?
Both are open source. Godot is licensed under MIT and dhewm3 under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Godot and dhewm3?
Godot is written in C++ and dhewm3 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, Godot or dhewm3?
Choose Godot if you want the larger community (119,594 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose dhewm3 if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.