head to head · open source
raylib vs lovr
raylib has 35,392 GitHub stars, 3,354 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lovr has 2,614 stars, 177 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped yesterday. raylib leads on adoption by 1,254% (35,392 vs 2,614 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; lovr is written in C under MIT. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, lovr 7%. lovr 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 | lovr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 2.6K |
| License | Zlib | MIT |
| Written in | C | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-23 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 177 |
| 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 lovr if
- You want the lovr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and lovr 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 lovr
LÖVR A simple Lua framework for rapidly building 3D games and VR experiences. Homepage Documentation FAQ Features Cross Platform Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. Cross Device Supports any headset that works with OpenXR, and has a keyboard/mouse VR simulator. Beginner friendly Simple scenes can be created in just a few lines of Lua. Fast Written in C11 and scripted with LuaJIT, includes optimized single pass stereo rendering. Tiny The whole framework is just a couple of megabytes, and it's easy to disable/remove modules. Powerful GPU APIs Compute shaders, ray tracing, indirect rendering, atomics, and…
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or lovr more popular?
raylib has 35,392 GitHub stars and lovr has 2,614. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and lovr free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and lovr under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and lovr?
raylib is written in C and lovr 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 lovr?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,392 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose lovr if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.