head to head · open source
imgui vs colyseus
imgui has 76,257 GitHub stars, 12,045 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped yesterday. colyseus has 7,307 stars, 664 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. imgui leads on adoption by 944% (76,257 vs 7,307 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; colyseus is written in TypeScript under MIT. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, colyseus 9%. imgui was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | colyseus | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 7.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 664 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick imgui if
- You weight community size — 76K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick colyseus if
- You want the colyseus feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and colyseus fits your workflow better
About imgui
Dear ImGui is a bloat free, MIT licensed graphical user interface library for C++ that outputs optimized vertex buffers for rendering inside 3D pipeline enabled applications, and it is aimed at programmers building content creation, visualization, and debug tools rather than at developers shipping consumer facing UI.
read the full imgui overview →
About colyseus
Colyseus is an MIT licensed authoritative multiplayer framework for Node.js that provides synchronizable data structures, room based matchmaking, and client SDKs for TypeScript, React, Unity, Godot, GameMaker, Defold, Construct, Haxe, and C, aimed at developers building realtime and turn based multiplayer games.
read the full colyseus overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or colyseus more popular?
imgui has 76,257 GitHub stars and colyseus has 7,307. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and colyseus free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and colyseus under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and colyseus?
imgui is written in C++ and colyseus 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 colyseus?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (76,257 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose colyseus if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.