head to head · open source
raylib vs MonoGame
raylib has 34,783 GitHub stars, 3,299 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. MonoGame has 14,431 stars, 3,107 forks, 766 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. raylib leads on adoption by 141% (34,783 vs 14,431 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; MonoGame is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, MonoGame 22%. raylib was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (game-development, game-engine, gamedev, graphics), 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 | MonoGame | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 14K |
| License | Zlib | Custom / other |
| Written in | C | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| 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 MonoGame if
- You want the MonoGame feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and MonoGame 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 MonoGame
MonoGame is a free, open source C and .NET game framework for building cross platform games. It lives in the .NET game development ecosystem and is positioned as one framework for creating games on desktop PCs, mobile devices, and consoles. It is an open source re implementation of Microsoft's discontinued XNA Framework, used to create games such as Streets of Rage 4, Carrion, Celeste, and Stardew Valley.
read the full MonoGame overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or MonoGame more popular?
raylib has 34,783 GitHub stars and MonoGame has 14,431. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and MonoGame free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib, and MonoGame has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between raylib and MonoGame?
raylib is written in C and MonoGame 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 MonoGame?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (34,783 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose MonoGame if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.