head to head · open source
Godot vs ebiten
Godot has 119,758 GitHub stars, 27,402 forks, 18,870 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ebiten has 13,612 stars, 801 forks, 296 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Godot leads on adoption by 780% (119,758 vs 13,612 stars). Godot is written in C++ under MIT; ebiten is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Godot has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, ebiten 6%. ebiten was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (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
| Godot | ebiten | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 120K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 27K | ⑂ 801 |
| 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 ebiten if
- You want the ebiten feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and ebiten 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 ebiten
Ebitengine (v2) A dead simple 2D game engine for Go Ebitengine (formerly known as Ebiten) is an open source game engine for the Go programming language. Ebitengine's simple API allows you to quickly and easily develop 2D games that can be deployed across multiple platforms. Website (ebitengine.org) API Reference Cheat Sheet Awesome Ebitengine Platforms Windows macOS Linux FreeBSD Android (Cgo required) iOS (Cgo required) WebAssembly Nintendo Switch (Cgo required) Xbox (Cgo required) (Xbox support is limited and not available to everyone. Negotiations are currently underway to make it accessible to all.) For…
read the full ebiten overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Godot or ebiten more popular?
Godot has 119,758 GitHub stars and ebiten has 13,612. Godot has the larger community by that measure.
Are Godot and ebiten free?
Both are open source. Godot is licensed under MIT and ebiten under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Godot and ebiten?
Godot is written in C++ and ebiten in Go. 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 ebiten?
Choose Godot if you want the larger community (119,758 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ebiten if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.