head to head · open source
imgui vs ferrumc
imgui has 76,337 GitHub stars, 12,054 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ferrumc has 2,401 stars, 98 forks, 27 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. imgui leads on adoption by 3,079% (76,337 vs 2,401 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; ferrumc is written in Rust under MIT. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, ferrumc 4%. imgui 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 | ferrumc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-08-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 98 |
| 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 ferrumc if
- You want the ferrumc feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and ferrumc 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 ferrumc
FerrumC is a reimplementation of the Minecraft server written from the ground up in Rust, aimed primarily at the average user who wants to run a server for friends and family.
read the full ferrumc overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or ferrumc more popular?
imgui has 76,337 GitHub stars and ferrumc has 2,401. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and ferrumc free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and ferrumc under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and ferrumc?
imgui is written in C++ and ferrumc in Rust. 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 ferrumc?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (76,337 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ferrumc if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.