head to head · open source
raylib vs raylib-go
raylib has 35,407 GitHub stars, 3,357 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. raylib-go has 2,553 stars, 210 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. raylib leads on adoption by 1,287% (35,407 vs 2,553 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; raylib-go is written in C under Zlib. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, raylib-go 8%. raylib was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (android, 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 | raylib-go | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 2.6K |
| License | Zlib | Zlib |
| Written in | C | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-24 | 2026-08-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 210 |
| 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 raylib-go if
- You want the raylib-go feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and raylib-go 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 raylib-go
raylib go Golang bindings for raylib, a simple and easy to use library to enjoy videogames programming. raylib C source code is included and compiled together with bindings. Note that the first build can take a few minutes. It is also possible to use raylib go without cgo (see requirements below). Requirements cgo Ubuntu apt get install libgl1 mesa dev libxi dev libxcursor dev libxrandr dev libxinerama dev libwayland dev libxkbcommon dev Fedora dnf install mesa libGL devel libXi devel libXcursor devel libXrandr devel libXinerama devel wayland devel libxkbcommon devel macOS On macOS, you need Xcode or Command…
read the full raylib-go overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or raylib-go more popular?
raylib has 35,407 GitHub stars and raylib-go has 2,553. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and raylib-go free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib and raylib-go under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between raylib and raylib-go?
raylib is written in C and raylib-go 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 raylib-go?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,407 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose raylib-go if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.