head to head · open source
MonoGame vs Pumpkin
MonoGame has 14,433 GitHub stars, 3,108 forks, 766 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Pumpkin has 11,292 stars, 813 forks, 452 open issues and last shipped yesterday. MonoGame leads on adoption by 28% (14,433 vs 11,292 stars). MonoGame is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence; Pumpkin is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. MonoGame has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Pumpkin 7%. Pumpkin 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 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| MonoGame | Pumpkin | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 14K | ★ 11K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 813 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick MonoGame if
- You weight community size — 14K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other 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 MonoGame
MonoGame is a free, open source C and .NET game framework for building cross platform games. It lives in the .NET game development ecosystem and is positioned as one framework for creating games on desktop PCs, mobile devices, and consoles. It is an open source re implementation of Microsoft's discontinued XNA Framework, used to create games such as Streets of Rage 4, Carrion, Celeste, and Stardew Valley.
read the full MonoGame 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 MonoGame or Pumpkin more popular?
MonoGame has 14,433 GitHub stars and Pumpkin has 11,292. MonoGame has the larger community by that measure.
Are MonoGame and Pumpkin free?
Both are open source. MonoGame has no licence declared in this registry, and Pumpkin is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between MonoGame and Pumpkin?
MonoGame 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, MonoGame or Pumpkin?
Choose MonoGame if you want the larger community (14,433 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Pumpkin if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.