head to head · open source
imgui vs orx
imgui has 77,109 GitHub stars, 12,111 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. orx has 1,788 stars, 124 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. imgui leads on adoption by 4,213% (77,109 vs 1,788 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; orx is written in C under Zlib. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, orx 7%. imgui was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (game-development, game-engine, gamedev), 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 | orx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | Zlib |
| Written in | C++ | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-13 | 2026-11-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 124 |
| 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 orx if
- You want the orx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and orx 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 orx
A (HEAVILY) DATA DRIVEN 2D GAME ENGINE Orx (Version 1.17) ======================================== This engine is licensed under the very permissive zlib license (i.e. it's free for any commercial or non commercial use), see the LICENSE file for details. Email iarwain [at] orx project.org to contact the author or come chat with us on Discord if you have any questions, feedback or comments. Summary Orx is a heavily data driven, 2D oriented game engine, focused primarily on ease of use, performances and powerful features. (See below for a list of supported platforms.) This is a release candidate for orx v1.17. If…
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or orx more popular?
imgui has 77,109 GitHub stars and orx has 1,788. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and orx free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and orx under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and orx?
imgui is written in C++ and orx 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 orx?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (77,109 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose orx if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.