head to head · open source
raylib vs s&box
raylib has 35,538 GitHub stars, 3,370 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. s&box has 6,517 stars, 696 forks, 2,406 open issues and last shipped yesterday. raylib leads on adoption by 445% (35,538 vs 6,517 stars). raylib is written in C under Zlib; s&box is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence. raylib has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, s&box 11%. s&box was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | s&box | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 6.5K |
| License | Zlib | Custom / other |
| Written in | C | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 696 |
| 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 s&box if
- You want the s&box feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and s&box 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 s&box
[Website] [Getting Started] [Forums] [Documentation] [Contributing] [Website]: [Getting Started]: [Forums]: [Documentation]: [Contributing]: CONTRIBUTING.md s&box s&box is a modern game engine, built on Valve's Source 2 and the latest .NET technology, it provides a modern intuitive editor for creating games. If your goal is to create games using s&box, please start with the getting started guide. This repository is for building the engine from source for those who want to contribute to the development of the engine. Getting the Engine Steam You can download and install the s&box editor directly from Steam…
read the full s&box overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or s&box more popular?
raylib has 35,538 GitHub stars and s&box has 6,517. raylib has the larger community by that measure.
Are raylib and s&box free?
Both are open source. raylib is licensed under Zlib, and s&box has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between raylib and s&box?
raylib is written in C and s&box 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 s&box?
Choose raylib if you want the larger community (35,538 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose s&box if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.