head to head · open source
raylib vs KlayGE
raylib has 35,569 GitHub stars, 3,376 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. KlayGE has 2,173 stars, 354 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. raylib leads on adoption by 1,537% (35,569 vs 2,173 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; KlayGE is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, KlayGE 16%. raylib was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (game-engine, graphics, opengl), 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 | KlayGE | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | Zlib | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-07-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 354 |
| 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 KlayGE if
- You want the KlayGE 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 KlayGE 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 KlayGE
KlayGE KlayGE is a cross platform open source game engine with plugin based architecture. It's started since 2003. The explicit goal of KlayGE is: to arm your engine with cutting edge technology. It provides a framework to make game development, testing, porting as simple as possible. Getting started Before compiling KlayGE, Python 3.6+ and CMake 3.16+ must be installed first. Then you can run Build.py to build the whole code base. For details, please see Installation. Platforms KlayGE can be developed on those platforms, with no limitation. Windows desktop macOS Linux KlayGE can be deployed and run on those…
read the full KlayGE overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or KlayGE more popular?
raylib has 35,569 GitHub stars and KlayGE has 2,173. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and KlayGE free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and KlayGE under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and KlayGE?
raylib is written in C and KlayGE 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 KlayGE?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,569 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose KlayGE if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.