head to head · open source
raylib vs OpenRA
raylib has 34,815 GitHub stars, 3,304 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenRA has 17,408 stars, 3,048 forks, 1,598 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. raylib leads on adoption by 100% (34,815 vs 17,408 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; OpenRA is written in C# under GPL-3.0. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, OpenRA 18%. 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 | OpenRA | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 17K |
| License | Zlib | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| 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 OpenRA if
- You want the OpenRA feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and OpenRA 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 OpenRA
OpenRA is a libre, free and open source real time strategy game engine written in C with SDL and OpenGL, built for players, mappers and modders who want to run and extend early Westwood classics such as Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn and Dune 2000 on Windows, Linux, BSD and Mac OS X.
read the full OpenRA overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or OpenRA more popular?
raylib has 34,815 GitHub stars and OpenRA has 17,408. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and OpenRA free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and OpenRA under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and OpenRA?
raylib is written in C and OpenRA 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 OpenRA?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (34,815 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose OpenRA if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.