head to head · open source
imgui vs NettyGameServer
imgui has 77,109 GitHub stars, 12,111 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. NettyGameServer has 1,671 stars, 670 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. imgui leads on adoption by 4,515% (77,109 vs 1,671 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; NettyGameServer is written in Java under GPL-3.0. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, NettyGameServer 40%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| imgui | NettyGameServer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-13 | 2026-04-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 670 |
| 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 NettyGameServer if
- You want the NettyGameServer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and NettyGameServer 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 NettyGameServer
NettyGameServer 使用netty4.X实现的手机游戏服务器,支持tcp,udp,http,websocket链接,采用protobuf自定义协议栈进行网络通信,支持rpc远程调用,使用mybatis3支持db存储分库分表,支持异步mysql存储,db保存时同步更新reids缓存。 使用ExcelToCode工程，将excel数据生成java类和json数据字典,DictService直接读取json,减少数据字典部分代码。 使用game executor工程,增加游戏内的异步事件全局服务,支持事件sharding,均衡的异步执行事件逻辑 使用netty的proxy模式，增加网关代理转发 master spring boot 分支支持spring boot 增加cocos creator网络链接示例工程 Wiki/文档 源码工具链接 ExcelToCode 数据字典生成 GameShardingDb 游戏数据库 GameThreadPool 游戏常用线程池 game executor 游戏常用循环调度执行器 GameCodeGenerate 工具(包含新版本数据字典生成) redis game transaction 事务 贡献源码&合作&交流 作者qq 330258845 QQ群:310158485(已满) 513178622
read the full NettyGameServer overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Gaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Gaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or NettyGameServer more popular?
imgui has 77,109 GitHub stars and NettyGameServer has 1,671. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and NettyGameServer free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and NettyGameServer under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and NettyGameServer?
imgui is written in C++ and NettyGameServer in Java. 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 NettyGameServer?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (77,109 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose NettyGameServer if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.