head to head · open source
three.js vs engine
three.js has 117,740 GitHub stars, 36,885 forks, 386 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. engine has 17,229 stars, 2,051 forks, 471 open issues and last shipped yesterday. three.js leads on adoption by 583% (117,740 vs 17,229 stars). three.js is written in JavaScript under MIT; engine is written in JavaScript under MIT. three.js has attracted 31% as many forks as stars, engine 12%. engine was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (javascript), 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
| three.js | engine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 118K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-06 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 37K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| 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 engine if
- You want the engine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and engine 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 engine
PlayCanvas Engine PlayCanvas is an open source game engine built on WebGL2 and WebGPU. Use it to create interactive 3D apps, games and visualizations that run in any browser on any device. English 中文 日本語 한글 Install Or scaffold a full project in seconds with create playcanvas : Usage Here's a super simple Hello World example a spinning cube! Want to play with the code yourself? Edit it on CodePen. A full guide to setting up a local development environment based on the PlayCanvas Engine can be found here. Features PlayCanvas is a fully featured game engine. 🧊 Graphics Advanced 2D + 3D graphics engine built on…
read the full engine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is three.js or engine more popular?
three.js has 117,740 GitHub stars and engine has 17,229. three.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are three.js and engine free?
Both are open source. three.js is licensed under MIT and engine under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between three.js and engine?
three.js is written in JavaScript and engine in JavaScript. 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 engine?
Choose three.js if you want the larger community (117,740 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose engine if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.