head to head · open source
three.js vs ebiten
three.js has 117,904 GitHub stars, 36,921 forks, 386 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ebiten has 13,614 stars, 801 forks, 296 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. three.js leads on adoption by 766% (117,904 vs 13,614 stars). three.js is written in JavaScript under MIT; ebiten is written in Go under Apache-2.0. three.js has attracted 31% as many forks as stars, ebiten 6%. ebiten was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| three.js | ebiten | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 118K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-08 | 2026-11-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 37K | ⑂ 801 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick three.js if
- You weight community size — 118K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ebiten if
- You want the ebiten feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and ebiten fits your workflow better
About three.js
three.js [![NPM Package][npm]][npm url] [![Build Size][build size]][build size url] [![NPM Downloads][npm downloads]][npmtrends url] [![jsDelivr Downloads][jsdelivr downloads]][jsdelivr url] [![Discord][discord]][discord url] JavaScript 3D library The aim of the project is to create an easy to use, lightweight, cross browser, general purpose 3D library. The current builds only include WebGL and WebGPU renderers but SVG and CSS3D renderers are also available as addons. Examples — Docs — Manual — Wiki — Migrating — Questions — Forum — Discord Usage This code creates a…
read the full three.js overview →
About ebiten
Ebitengine (v2) A dead simple 2D game engine for Go Ebitengine (formerly known as Ebiten) is an open source game engine for the Go programming language. Ebitengine's simple API allows you to quickly and easily develop 2D games that can be deployed across multiple platforms. Website (ebitengine.org) API Reference Cheat Sheet Awesome Ebitengine Platforms Windows macOS Linux FreeBSD Android (Cgo required) iOS (Cgo required) WebAssembly Nintendo Switch (Cgo required) Xbox (Cgo required) (Xbox support is limited and not available to everyone. Negotiations are currently underway to make it accessible to all.) For…
read the full ebiten overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is three.js or ebiten more popular?
three.js has 117,904 GitHub stars and ebiten has 13,614. three.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are three.js and ebiten free?
Both are open source. three.js is licensed under MIT and ebiten under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between three.js and ebiten?
three.js is written in JavaScript and ebiten in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, three.js or ebiten?
Choose three.js if you want the larger community (117,904 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ebiten if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.