head to head · open source
raylib vs ferrumc
raylib has 34,849 GitHub stars, 3,306 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ferrumc has 2,401 stars, 98 forks, 27 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. raylib leads on adoption by 1,351% (34,849 vs 2,401 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; ferrumc is written in Rust under MIT. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, ferrumc 4%. 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-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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| raylib | ferrumc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Zlib | MIT |
| Written in | C | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-08-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 98 |
| 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 ferrumc if
- You want the ferrumc feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and ferrumc 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 ferrumc
FerrumC is a reimplementation of the Minecraft server written from the ground up in Rust, aimed primarily at the average user who wants to run a server for friends and family.
read the full ferrumc overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Gaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Gaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or ferrumc more popular?
raylib has 34,849 GitHub stars and ferrumc has 2,401. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and ferrumc free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and ferrumc under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and ferrumc?
raylib is written in C and ferrumc 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, raylib or ferrumc?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (34,849 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose ferrumc if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.