head to head · open source
three.js vs MonoGame
three.js has 115,636 GitHub stars, 36,557 forks, 386 open issues and last shipped yesterday. MonoGame has 14,431 stars, 3,107 forks, 766 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. three.js leads on adoption by 701% (115,636 vs 14,431 stars). three.js is written in JavaScript under MIT; MonoGame is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence. three.js has attracted 32% as many forks as stars, MonoGame 22%. three.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (3d), 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.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| three.js | MonoGame | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 116K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 37K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| 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 MonoGame if
- You want the MonoGame feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and MonoGame 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 MonoGame
MonoGame is a free, open source C and .NET game framework for building cross platform games. It lives in the .NET game development ecosystem and is positioned as one framework for creating games on desktop PCs, mobile devices, and consoles. It is an open source re implementation of Microsoft's discontinued XNA Framework, used to create games such as Streets of Rage 4, Carrion, Celeste, and Stardew Valley.
read the full MonoGame overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Gaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Gaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is three.js or MonoGame more popular?
three.js has 115,636 GitHub stars and MonoGame has 14,431. three.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are three.js and MonoGame free?
Both are open source. three.js is licensed under MIT, and MonoGame has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between three.js and MonoGame?
three.js is written in JavaScript and MonoGame 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 MonoGame?
Choose three.js if you want the larger community (115,636 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose MonoGame if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.