head to head · open source
imgui vs entt
imgui has 76,345 GitHub stars, 12,056 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped yesterday. entt has 13,139 stars, 1,117 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. imgui leads on adoption by 481% (76,345 vs 13,139 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; entt is written in C++ under MIT. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, entt 9%. entt was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (game-development), 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 | entt | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| 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 entt if
- You want the entt feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and entt 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 entt
EnTT is a header only, MIT licensed library written in modern C++ that provides a fast entity component system (ECS) for game programming and more, aimed at game, engine and data oriented developers who want the ECS architectural pattern without adopting a full framework.
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or entt more popular?
imgui has 76,345 GitHub stars and entt has 13,139. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and entt free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and entt under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and entt?
imgui is written in C++ and entt 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 entt?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (76,345 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose entt if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.