head to head · open source
imgui vs s&box
imgui has 76,934 GitHub stars, 12,107 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped yesterday. s&box has 6,517 stars, 696 forks, 2,406 open issues and last shipped yesterday. imgui leads on adoption by 1,081% (76,934 vs 6,517 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; s&box is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, s&box 11%. s&box 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.
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Side by side
| imgui | s&box | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 6.5K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | C++ | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 696 |
| 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 s&box if
- You want the s&box feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and s&box 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 s&box
[Website] [Getting Started] [Forums] [Documentation] [Contributing] [Website]: [Getting Started]: [Forums]: [Documentation]: [Contributing]: CONTRIBUTING.md s&box s&box is a modern game engine, built on Valve's Source 2 and the latest .NET technology, it provides a modern intuitive editor for creating games. If your goal is to create games using s&box, please start with the getting started guide. This repository is for building the engine from source for those who want to contribute to the development of the engine. Getting the Engine Steam You can download and install the s&box editor directly from Steam…
read the full s&box overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is imgui or s&box more popular?
imgui has 76,934 GitHub stars and s&box has 6,517. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and s&box free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT, and s&box has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between imgui and s&box?
imgui is written in C++ and s&box 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 s&box?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (76,934 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose s&box if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.