head to head · open source
raylib vs NettyGameServer
raylib has 35,671 GitHub stars, 3,392 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NettyGameServer has 1,671 stars, 670 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. raylib leads on adoption by 2,035% (35,671 vs 1,671 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; NettyGameServer is written in Java under GPL-3.0. raylib has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, NettyGameServer 40%. raylib was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | NettyGameServer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Zlib | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-14 | 2026-04-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 670 |
| 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 NettyGameServer if
- You want the NettyGameServer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and NettyGameServer 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 NettyGameServer
NettyGameServer 使用netty4.X实现的手机游戏服务器,支持tcp,udp,http,websocket链接,采用protobuf自定义协议栈进行网络通信,支持rpc远程调用,使用mybatis3支持db存储分库分表,支持异步mysql存储,db保存时同步更新reids缓存。 使用ExcelToCode工程，将excel数据生成java类和json数据字典,DictService直接读取json,减少数据字典部分代码。 使用game executor工程,增加游戏内的异步事件全局服务,支持事件sharding,均衡的异步执行事件逻辑 使用netty的proxy模式，增加网关代理转发 master spring boot 分支支持spring boot 增加cocos creator网络链接示例工程 Wiki/文档 源码工具链接 ExcelToCode 数据字典生成 GameShardingDb 游戏数据库 GameThreadPool 游戏常用线程池 game executor 游戏常用循环调度执行器 GameCodeGenerate 工具(包含新版本数据字典生成) redis game transaction 事务 贡献源码&合作&交流 作者qq 330258845 QQ群:310158485(已满) 513178622
read the full NettyGameServer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or NettyGameServer more popular?
raylib has 35,671 GitHub stars and NettyGameServer has 1,671. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and NettyGameServer free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and NettyGameServer under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and NettyGameServer?
raylib is written in C and NettyGameServer in Java. 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 NettyGameServer?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,671 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose NettyGameServer if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.