head to head · open source
raylib vs boardgame.io
raylib has 34,876 GitHub stars, 3,313 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. boardgame.io has 12,443 stars, 832 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. raylib leads on adoption by 180% (34,876 vs 12,443 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; boardgame.io is written in TypeScript under MIT. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, boardgame.io 7%. raylib was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | boardgame.io | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 12K |
| License | Zlib | MIT |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 832 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick raylib if
- You weight community size — 35K stars and counting
- You want the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick boardgame.io if
- You want the boardgame.io feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and boardgame.io fits your workflow better
About raylib
raylib is an open source, Zlib licensed C programming library for building videogames and graphical applications, aimed at programmers who would rather write code directly than work inside a visual game engine editor.
read the full raylib overview →
About boardgame.io
boardgame.io is an MIT licensed engine for building turn based games in JavaScript, aimed at developers who want state management, realtime multiplayer and matchmaking handled for them instead of writing their own networking and storage code.
read the full boardgame.io overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or boardgame.io more popular?
raylib has 34,876 GitHub stars and boardgame.io has 12,443. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and boardgame.io free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and boardgame.io under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and boardgame.io?
raylib is written in C and boardgame.io 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 boardgame.io?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (34,876 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose boardgame.io if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.