head to head · open source
imgui vs butano
imgui has 77,069 GitHub stars, 12,102 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped yesterday. butano has 1,828 stars, 148 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. imgui leads on adoption by 4,116% (77,069 vs 1,828 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; butano is written in C++ under Zlib. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, butano 8%. imgui 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
| imgui | butano | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | Zlib |
| Written in | C++ | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 148 |
| 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 butano if
- You want the butano feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and butano 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 butano
Butano Butano is a modern C++ high level engine for the Game Boy Advance. Features Create and display sprites, backgrounds, text, raster effects and more with only one line of C++ code. Custom standard library without heap allocations nor exceptions, based on ETL. Import and use your own assets with ease. Multiple development tools like asserts, emulator logging and code profiling. Based on modern C++ concepts like shared ownership and RAII. Detailed documentation. Multiple examples of most aspects of the engine. The source code and assets of two full games (Butano Fighter and Varooom 3D) are provided with this…
read the full butano overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or butano more popular?
imgui has 77,069 GitHub stars and butano has 1,828. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and butano free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and butano under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and butano?
imgui is written in C++ and butano 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, imgui or butano?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (77,069 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose butano if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.