head to head · open source
raylib vs ezEngine
raylib has 35,607 GitHub stars, 3,379 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ezEngine has 2,036 stars, 266 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. raylib leads on adoption by 1,649% (35,607 vs 2,036 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; ezEngine is written in C++ under MIT. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, ezEngine 13%. raylib was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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
| raylib | ezEngine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Zlib | MIT |
| Written in | C | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-08 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 266 |
| 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 ezEngine if
- You want the ezEngine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and ezEngine 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 ezEngine
ezEngine ezEngine is an open source C++ game engine. Watch the trailer below for a quick feature overview: Visit for documentation, samples and detailed build instructions. Supported Platforms The full engine functionality is currently only available on Windows, because the renderer uses Direct3D 11. Work on porting the renderer to Vulkan is ongoing. There is an experimental Linux port of the editor, but it is not yet functional enough for productive use. All non rendering related functionality compiles on Windows, Android, Linux and MacOS. See this page for details. Prebuilt Binaries See the releases for recent…
read the full ezEngine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or ezEngine more popular?
raylib has 35,607 GitHub stars and ezEngine has 2,036. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and ezEngine free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and ezEngine under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and ezEngine?
raylib is written in C and ezEngine 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, raylib or ezEngine?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,607 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose ezEngine if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.