head to head · open source
raylib vs orx
raylib has 35,671 GitHub stars, 3,392 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. orx has 1,788 stars, 124 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. raylib leads on adoption by 1,895% (35,671 vs 1,788 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; orx is written in C under Zlib. raylib has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, orx 7%. 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-development, 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 | orx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Zlib | Zlib |
| Written in | C | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-14 | 2026-11-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 124 |
| 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 orx if
- You want the orx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and orx 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 orx
A (HEAVILY) DATA DRIVEN 2D GAME ENGINE Orx (Version 1.17) ======================================== This engine is licensed under the very permissive zlib license (i.e. it's free for any commercial or non commercial use), see the LICENSE file for details. Email iarwain [at] orx project.org to contact the author or come chat with us on Discord if you have any questions, feedback or comments. Summary Orx is a heavily data driven, 2D oriented game engine, focused primarily on ease of use, performances and powerful features. (See below for a list of supported platforms.) This is a release candidate for orx v1.17. If…
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or orx more popular?
raylib has 35,671 GitHub stars and orx has 1,788. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and orx free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and orx under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and orx?
raylib is written in C and orx 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 orx?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,671 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose orx if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.