head to head · open source
imgui vs Pumpkin
imgui has 76,246 GitHub stars, 12,044 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pumpkin has 11,288 stars, 807 forks, 452 open issues and last shipped yesterday. imgui leads on adoption by 575% (76,246 vs 11,288 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; Pumpkin is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Pumpkin 7%. imgui was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| imgui | Pumpkin | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 11K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 807 |
| 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 Pumpkin if
- You want the Pumpkin feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Pumpkin 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 Pumpkin
Pumpkin is a Minecraft server implementation written entirely in Rust that aims to let anyone host fast and efficient Java and Bedrock Edition servers, and it is built for server operators and plugin developers who want vanilla compatible gameplay without the official Java server.
read the full Pumpkin 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 Pumpkin more popular?
imgui has 76,246 GitHub stars and Pumpkin has 11,288. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and Pumpkin free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and Pumpkin under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and Pumpkin?
imgui is written in C++ and Pumpkin 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 Pumpkin?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (76,246 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Pumpkin if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.