head to head · open source
raylib vs s&box
raylib has 34,783 GitHub stars, 3,299 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. s&box has 6,468 stars, 671 forks, 2,406 open issues and last shipped yesterday. raylib leads on adoption by 438% (34,783 vs 6,468 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 10%. 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 | ★ 35K | ★ 6.5K |
| License | Zlib | Custom / other |
| Written in | C | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 671 |
| 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 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 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 s&box
s&box is a modern game engine built on Valve's Source 2 and the latest .NET technology, offering a modern intuitive editor for creating games, and it is aimed at game creators who want to build and play games inside an engine that runs live, alongside the contributors who compile the engine itself from source.
read the full s&box overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is raylib or s&box more popular?
raylib has 34,783 GitHub stars and s&box has 6,468. 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 (34,783 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose s&box if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.