head to head · open source
engine vs Pumpkin
engine has 16,890 GitHub stars, 2,000 forks, 471 open issues and last shipped today. Pumpkin has 11,325 stars, 819 forks, 452 open issues and last shipped yesterday. engine leads on adoption by 49% (16,890 vs 11,325 stars). engine is written in JavaScript under MIT; Pumpkin is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. engine has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Pumpkin 7%. engine 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
| engine | Pumpkin | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 11K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 819 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick engine if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- 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 engine
PlayCanvas Engine is an open source, MIT licensed JavaScript and TypeScript runtime for building interactive 3D apps, games and visualizations that run in any browser on any device, built on WebGL2 and WebGPU.
read the full engine 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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is engine or Pumpkin more popular?
engine has 16,890 GitHub stars and Pumpkin has 11,325. engine has the larger community by that measure.
Are engine and Pumpkin free?
Both are open source. engine is licensed under MIT and Pumpkin under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between engine and Pumpkin?
engine is written in JavaScript 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, engine or Pumpkin?
Choose engine if you want the larger community (16,890 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Pumpkin if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.