head to head · open source
bevy vs raylib
bevy has 49,474 GitHub stars, 5,010 forks, 3,418 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. raylib has 35,538 stars, 3,370 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. bevy leads on adoption by 39% (49,474 vs 35,538 stars). bevy is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; raylib is written in C under Zlib. bevy has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, raylib 9%. raylib was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (game-development, game-engine, 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
| bevy | raylib | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 49K | ★ 36K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Zlib |
| Written in | Rust | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 3.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick bevy if
- You weight community size — 49K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick raylib if
- You want the raylib feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and raylib fits your workflow better
About bevy
What is Bevy? Bevy is a refreshingly simple data driven game engine built in Rust. It is free and open source forever! WARNING Bevy is still in the early stages of development. Important features are missing. Documentation is sparse. A new version of Bevy containing breaking changes to the API is released approximately once every 3 months. We provide migration guides, but we can't guarantee migrations will always be easy. Use only if you are willing to work in this environment. MSRV: Bevy relies heavily on improvements in the Rust language and compiler. As a result, the Minimum Supported Rust Version (MSRV) is…
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is bevy or raylib more popular?
bevy has 49,474 GitHub stars and raylib has 35,538. bevy has the larger community by that measure.
Are bevy and raylib free?
Both are open source. bevy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and raylib under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between bevy and raylib?
bevy is written in Rust and raylib 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, bevy or raylib?
Choose bevy if you want the larger community (49,474 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose raylib if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.