head to head · open source
imgui vs Babylon.js
imgui has 76,934 GitHub stars, 12,107 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Babylon.js has 26,283 stars, 3,719 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. imgui leads on adoption by 193% (76,934 vs 26,283 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; Babylon.js is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Babylon.js 14%. Babylon.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (game-development, 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
| imgui | Babylon.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 26K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 3.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick imgui if
- You weight community size — 77K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Babylon.js if
- You want the Babylon.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Babylon.js fits your workflow better
About imgui
Dear ImGui ===== "Give someone state and they'll have a bug one day, but teach them how to represent state in two separate locations that have to be kept in sync and they'll have bugs for a lifetime." ryg (This library is available under a free and permissive license, but needs financial support to sustain its continued improvements. In addition to maintenance and stability there are many desirable features yet to be added. If your company is using Dear ImGui, please consider reaching out.) Businesses: support continued development and maintenance via invoiced sponsoring/support contracts: E mail: contact @…
read the full imgui overview →
About Babylon.js
Babylon.js Getting started? Play directly with the Babylon.js API using our playground. It also contains a lot of samples to learn how to use it. Any questions? Here is our official forum. CDN ⚠️ WARNING: The CDN should not be used in production environments. The purpose of our CDN is to serve Babylon packages to users learning how to use the platform or running small experiments. Once you've built an application and are ready to share it with the world at large, you should serve all packages from your own CDN. For the preview release, use the following URLs: A list of additional references can be found here…
read the full Babylon.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or Babylon.js more popular?
imgui has 76,934 GitHub stars and Babylon.js has 26,283. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and Babylon.js free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and Babylon.js under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and Babylon.js?
imgui is written in C++ and Babylon.js 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, imgui or Babylon.js?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (76,934 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Babylon.js if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.