head to head · open source
three.js vs MonoGame
three.js has 117,439 GitHub stars, 36,894 forks, 386 open issues and last shipped yesterday. MonoGame has 14,602 stars, 3,119 forks, 766 open issues and last shipped yesterday. three.js leads on adoption by 704% (117,439 vs 14,602 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 31% as many forks as stars, MonoGame 21%. MonoGame 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 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| three.js | MonoGame | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 117K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 37K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick three.js if
- You weight community size — 117K 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 [![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 MonoGame
MonoGame One framework for creating powerful cross platform games Supported Platforms • Resources • Samples • Support and Contributions • Source Code • Helpful Links • License Overview MonoGame is a simple and powerful .NET framework for creating games for desktop PCs, video game consoles, and mobile devices using the C programming language. It has been successfully used to create games such as Streets of Rage 4, Carrion, Celeste, Stardew Valley, and many others. It is an open source re implementation of the discontinued Microsoft's XNA Framework. Supported Platforms We support a growing list of platforms across…
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 117,439 GitHub stars and MonoGame has 14,602. 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 (117,439 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose MonoGame if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.