head to head · open source
raylib vs planck.js
raylib has 34,972 GitHub stars, 3,323 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. planck.js has 5,289 stars, 256 forks, 33 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. raylib leads on adoption by 561% (34,972 vs 5,289 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; planck.js is written in TypeScript under MIT. raylib has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, planck.js 5%. 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 | planck.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 5.3K |
| License | Zlib | MIT |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-04 | 2026-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 256 |
| 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 planck.js if
- You want the planck.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and planck.js 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 planck.js
planck.js is a free, open source 2D physics engine written in TypeScript for game developers building cross platform HTML5 games in JavaScript.
read the full planck.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or planck.js more popular?
raylib has 34,972 GitHub stars and planck.js has 5,289. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and planck.js free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and planck.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and planck.js?
raylib is written in C and planck.js in TypeScript. 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 planck.js?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (34,972 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose planck.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.