head to head · open source
Godot vs OpenPencil
Godot has 117,369 GitHub stars, 26,777 forks, 18,870 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenPencil has 8,357 stars, 815 forks, 46 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Godot leads on adoption by 1,304% (117,369 vs 8,357 stars). Godot is written in C++ under MIT; OpenPencil is written in TypeScript under MIT. Godot has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, OpenPencil 10%. Godot was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (open-source), 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 | OpenPencil | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 117K | ★ 8.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 27K | ⑂ 815 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Godot if
- You weight community size — 117K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OpenPencil if
- You want the OpenPencil feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and OpenPencil fits your workflow better
About Godot
Godot Engine is a free, MIT licensed, cross platform 2D and 3D game engine that ships an editor, a class reference, export templates, and one click deployment to desktop, mobile, web and console targets, aimed at game developers who want to own their toolchain and their games without royalties.
read the full Godot overview →
About OpenPencil
OpenPencil is an open source, AI native design editor that opens and writes native Figma .fig and Pencil .pen files, runs as a roughly 7 MB desktop app or in the browser, and is aimed at designers and developers who want a local, fully programmable alternative to Figma.
read the full OpenPencil overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Godot or OpenPencil more popular?
Godot has 117,369 GitHub stars and OpenPencil has 8,357. Godot has the larger community by that measure.
Are Godot and OpenPencil free?
Both are open source. Godot is licensed under MIT and OpenPencil under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Godot and OpenPencil?
Godot is written in C++ and OpenPencil in TypeScript. 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 OpenPencil?
Choose Godot if you want the larger community (117,369 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose OpenPencil if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.