head to head · open source
Godot vs permafrost-engine
Godot has 118,833 GitHub stars, 27,157 forks, 18,870 open issues and last shipped yesterday. permafrost-engine has 2,768 stars, 121 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. Godot leads on adoption by 4,193% (118,833 vs 2,768 stars). Godot is written in C++ under MIT; permafrost-engine is written in C under GPL-3.0. Godot has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, permafrost-engine 4%. 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 | permafrost-engine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 119K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-22 | 2026-10-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 27K | ⑂ 121 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Godot if
- You weight community size — 119K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick permafrost-engine if
- You want the permafrost-engine 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 permafrost-engine 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 permafrost-engine
Support the Development Wishlist EVERGLORY on Steam Permafrost Engine is an OpenGL 3.3 Real Time Strategy game engine written in C. It is made in the image of old classics, but incorporating some modern ideas. Engine Showcase EVERGLORY is the flagship game developed using Permafrost Engine. Download the free demo on Steam. With the demo you also get access to all the scripts powering the gameplay to learn from and modify as you wish. Engine Summary OpenGL 3.3 programmable pipeline (more modern extensions used where available) Custom text model format for interoperability with tools; baked binary format for fast…
read the full permafrost-engine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Godot or permafrost-engine more popular?
Godot has 118,833 GitHub stars and permafrost-engine has 2,768. Godot has the larger community by that measure.
Are Godot and permafrost-engine free?
Both are open source. Godot is licensed under MIT and permafrost-engine under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Godot and permafrost-engine?
Godot is written in C++ and permafrost-engine 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 permafrost-engine?
Choose Godot if you want the larger community (118,833 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose permafrost-engine if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.