head to head · open source
raylib vs fheroes2
raylib has 35,217 GitHub stars, 3,335 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fheroes2 has 3,503 stars, 503 forks, 431 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. raylib leads on adoption by 905% (35,217 vs 3,503 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; fheroes2 is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, fheroes2 14%. 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.
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Side by side
| raylib | fheroes2 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 3.5K |
| License | Zlib | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-10-13 | 2026-10-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 503 |
| 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 fheroes2 if
- You want the fheroes2 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and fheroes2 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 fheroes2
fheroes2 is an open source, multiplatform recreation of the Heroes of Might and Magic II game engine, written from scratch in C++ under the GNU General Public License v2.0, and it is built for players who want to run the classic turn based strategy game on modern systems and for the developers, artists and translators who keep improving it.
read the full fheroes2 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or fheroes2 more popular?
raylib has 35,217 GitHub stars and fheroes2 has 3,503. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and fheroes2 free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and fheroes2 under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and fheroes2?
raylib is written in C and fheroes2 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 fheroes2?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,217 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose fheroes2 if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.