head to head · open source
raylib vs Babylon.js
raylib has 35,538 GitHub stars, 3,370 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Babylon.js has 26,283 stars, 3,719 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. raylib leads on adoption by 35% (35,538 vs 26,283 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; Babylon.js is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Babylon.js 14%. Babylon.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (game-development, 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
| raylib | Babylon.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 26K |
| License | Zlib | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 3.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick raylib if
- You weight community size — 36K stars and counting
- You want the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Babylon.js if
- You want the Babylon.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Babylon.js fits your workflow better
About raylib
raylib is a simple and easy to use library to enjoy videogames programming. raylib is highly inspired by Borland BGI graphics lib and by XNA framework and it's especially well suited for prototyping, tooling, graphical applications, embedded systems and education. NOTE for ADVENTURERS: raylib is a programming library to enjoy videogames programming; no fancy interface, no visual helpers, no debug button... just coding in the most pure spartan programmers way. Ready to learn? Jump to code examples! features NO external dependencies , all required libraries are included in raylib Multiple platforms supported…
read the full raylib overview →
About Babylon.js
Babylon.js Getting started? Play directly with the Babylon.js API using our playground. It also contains a lot of samples to learn how to use it. Any questions? Here is our official forum. CDN ⚠️ WARNING: The CDN should not be used in production environments. The purpose of our CDN is to serve Babylon packages to users learning how to use the platform or running small experiments. Once you've built an application and are ready to share it with the world at large, you should serve all packages from your own CDN. For the preview release, use the following URLs: A list of additional references can be found here…
read the full Babylon.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or Babylon.js more popular?
raylib has 35,538 GitHub stars and Babylon.js has 26,283. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and Babylon.js free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and Babylon.js under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and Babylon.js?
raylib is written in C and Babylon.js in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, raylib or Babylon.js?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,538 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose Babylon.js if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.