head to head · open source
imgui vs KlayGE
imgui has 76,998 GitHub stars, 12,101 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. KlayGE has 2,173 stars, 354 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. imgui leads on adoption by 3,443% (76,998 vs 2,173 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; KlayGE is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, KlayGE 16%. 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 | KlayGE | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-07-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 354 |
| 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 KlayGE if
- You want the KlayGE feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and KlayGE 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 KlayGE
KlayGE KlayGE is a cross platform open source game engine with plugin based architecture. It's started since 2003. The explicit goal of KlayGE is: to arm your engine with cutting edge technology. It provides a framework to make game development, testing, porting as simple as possible. Getting started Before compiling KlayGE, Python 3.6+ and CMake 3.16+ must be installed first. Then you can run Build.py to build the whole code base. For details, please see Installation. Platforms KlayGE can be developed on those platforms, with no limitation. Windows desktop macOS Linux KlayGE can be deployed and run on those…
read the full KlayGE overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or KlayGE more popular?
imgui has 76,998 GitHub stars and KlayGE has 2,173. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and KlayGE free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and KlayGE under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and KlayGE?
imgui is written in C++ and KlayGE 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 KlayGE?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (76,998 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose KlayGE if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.