head to head · open source
imgui vs JoltPhysics
imgui has 77,082 GitHub stars, 12,102 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped yesterday. JoltPhysics has 12,276 stars, 1,015 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped yesterday. imgui leads on adoption by 528% (77,082 vs 12,276 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; JoltPhysics is written in C++ under MIT. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, JoltPhysics 8%. JoltPhysics 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 | JoltPhysics | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 12K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-12 | 2026-11-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 JoltPhysics if
- You want the JoltPhysics feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and JoltPhysics 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 JoltPhysics
Jolt Physics A multi core friendly rigid body physics and collision detection library. Suitable for games and VR applications. Used by Horizon Forbidden West and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. For more demos and videos go to the Samples section. Design considerations Why create yet another physics engine? Firstly, it has been a personal learning project. Secondly, I wanted to address some issues that I had with existing physics engines: Games do more than simulating physics. These things happen across multiple threads. We emphasize on concurrently accessing physics data outside of the main simulation update…
read the full JoltPhysics overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or JoltPhysics more popular?
imgui has 77,082 GitHub stars and JoltPhysics has 12,276. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and JoltPhysics free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and JoltPhysics under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and JoltPhysics?
imgui is written in C++ and JoltPhysics 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 JoltPhysics?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (77,082 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose JoltPhysics if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.