head to head · open source
three.js vs imgui
three.js has 115,636 GitHub stars, 36,557 forks, 386 open issues and last shipped yesterday. imgui has 76,246 stars, 12,044 forks, 1,227 open issues and last shipped yesterday. three.js leads on adoption by 52% (115,636 vs 76,246 stars). three.js is written in JavaScript under MIT; imgui is written in C++ under MIT. three.js has attracted 32% as many forks as stars, imgui 16%. imgui 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 | imgui | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 116K | ★ 76K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 37K | ⑂ 12K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick three.js if
- You weight community size — 116K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick imgui if
- You want the imgui feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and imgui fits your workflow better
About three.js
three.js is an MIT licensed JavaScript 3D library that provides an easy to use, lightweight, cross browser, general purpose layer for rendering interactive 3D graphics in the browser, aimed at JavaScript developers who need 3D scenes on the web without writing raw GPU code.
read the full three.js overview →
About imgui
Dear ImGui is a bloat free, MIT licensed graphical user interface library for C++ that outputs optimized vertex buffers for rendering inside 3D pipeline enabled applications, and it is aimed at programmers building content creation, visualization, and debug tools rather than at developers shipping consumer facing UI.
read the full imgui overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is three.js or imgui more popular?
three.js has 115,636 GitHub stars and imgui has 76,246. three.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are three.js and imgui free?
Both are open source. three.js is licensed under MIT and imgui under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between three.js and imgui?
three.js is written in JavaScript and imgui 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, three.js or imgui?
Choose three.js if you want the larger community (115,636 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose imgui if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.