head to head · open source
imgui vs raylib
imgui has 76,934 GitHub stars, 12,107 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped yesterday. raylib has 35,538 stars, 3,370 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. imgui leads on adoption by 116% (76,934 vs 35,538 stars). imgui is written in C++ under MIT; raylib is written in C under Zlib. imgui has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, raylib 9%. imgui 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
| imgui | raylib | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 36K |
| License | MIT | Zlib |
| Written in | C++ | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 3.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick imgui if
- You weight community size — 77K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- 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 imgui
Dear ImGui ===== "Give someone state and they'll have a bug one day, but teach them how to represent state in two separate locations that have to be kept in sync and they'll have bugs for a lifetime." ryg (This library is available under a free and permissive license, but needs financial support to sustain its continued improvements. In addition to maintenance and stability there are many desirable features yet to be added. If your company is using Dear ImGui, please consider reaching out.) Businesses: support continued development and maintenance via invoiced sponsoring/support contracts: E mail: contact @…
read the full imgui overview →
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 imgui or raylib more popular?
imgui has 76,934 GitHub stars and raylib has 35,538. imgui has the larger community by that measure.
Are imgui and raylib free?
Both are open source. imgui is licensed under MIT and raylib under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between imgui and raylib?
imgui is written in C++ 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, imgui or raylib?
Choose imgui if you want the larger community (76,934 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose raylib if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.