head to head · open source
OpenRA vs MonoGame
OpenRA has 17,717 GitHub stars, 3,107 forks, 1,598 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. MonoGame has 14,602 stars, 3,119 forks, 766 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenRA leads on adoption by 21% (17,717 vs 14,602 stars). OpenRA is written in C# under GPL-3.0; MonoGame is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence. OpenRA has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, MonoGame 21%. MonoGame was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (cross-platform, csharp, dotnet, 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
| OpenRA | MonoGame | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 15K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | C# | C# |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenRA if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick MonoGame if
- You want the MonoGame feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and MonoGame fits your workflow better
About OpenRA
OpenRA A Libre/Free Real Time Strategy game engine supporting early Westwood classics. Website: Chat: openra on Libera (web) or Discord Repository: Please read the FAQ in our Wiki and report problems at Join the Forum for discussion. Play Distributed mods include a reimagining of Command & Conquer: Red Alert Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn Dune 2000 EA has not endorsed and does not support this product. Check our Playing the Game Guide to win multiplayer matches. Contribute Please read INSTALL.md and Compiling on how to set up an OpenRA development environment. See Hacking for a (now very outdated) overview of…
read the full OpenRA overview →
About MonoGame
MonoGame One framework for creating powerful cross platform games Supported Platforms • Resources • Samples • Support and Contributions • Source Code • Helpful Links • License Overview MonoGame is a simple and powerful .NET framework for creating games for desktop PCs, video game consoles, and mobile devices using the C programming language. It has been successfully used to create games such as Streets of Rage 4, Carrion, Celeste, Stardew Valley, and many others. It is an open source re implementation of the discontinued Microsoft's XNA Framework. Supported Platforms We support a growing list of platforms across…
read the full MonoGame overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenRA or MonoGame more popular?
OpenRA has 17,717 GitHub stars and MonoGame has 14,602. OpenRA has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenRA and MonoGame free?
Both are open source. OpenRA is licensed under GPL-3.0, and MonoGame has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenRA and MonoGame?
OpenRA is written in C# and MonoGame 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, OpenRA or MonoGame?
Choose OpenRA if you want the larger community (17,717 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose MonoGame if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.