Software Alternatives & Reviews

GLFW VS raylib

Compare GLFW VS raylib and see what are their differences

GLFW logo GLFW

GLFW is an Open Source, multi-platform library for OpenGL, OpenGL ES and Vulkan development on the...

raylib logo raylib

Cross-platform, open-source game development library in C.
  • GLFW Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-03-22
  • raylib Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-08

GLFW videos

Computer Graphics with Modern OpenGL and C++ : [THEORY] Introduction to GLEW, GLFW and SDL

More videos:

  • Tutorial - OpenGL Tutorial 17 - GLFW Text/Character Input

raylib videos

Raylib 3.0 Released -- The Best Way to Learn C or C++ Game Development*

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Raylib tutorial | Episode 1 | Setting up Raylib and Creating a Window
  • Review - RayLib Receives An Epic MegaGrant!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GLFW and raylib)
Game Engine
39 39%
61% 61
Game Development
39 39%
61% 61
3D Game Engine
45 45%
55% 55
2D Game Engine
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GLFW and raylib

GLFW Reviews

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raylib Reviews

  1. Raylib, a hidden Powerhouse

    I got to know Raylib just a few days ago taking a course on learning C++ to start using Unreal Engine. I have a background with assembler(a long time ago), Python/Pygame, C#/Monogame, and Unity/C#. Within the few days I used it, I am simply blown away by the simplicity but yet extremely powerful Raylib library. The routines and functions are very clear and access is very simple. Everything is well documented. I am yet to go in-depth with the library but I never had such an experience in the past building games, which is my main interest. If you stumbled upon this by chance stop and give it a go. You'll never regret it. Right now I am thinking of the many ways I can use this with the languages I know.

    🏁 Competitors: MonoGame, Pygame

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, raylib should be more popular than GLFW. It has been mentiond 6 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GLFW mentions (1)

  • Need help getting started with GLFW on Linux and VS Code
    I'm on Arch linux, so I runned sudo pacman -S glfw-x11 to get GLFW. I started vscode and copied the boiler plate code from glfw.org and then I tried to run it but I got a bunch of linking/definition (?) errors. Source: about 3 years ago

raylib mentions (6)

  • Are there any game engines that support 3D that are more code orientated?
    It sounds like you're maybe asking for code frameworks/libraries instead of engines? Something like https://raylib.com/ might be better suited? Source: about 1 year ago
  • How can I make graphics games using cpp?
    I would recommend SFML or Raylib, they're both excellent and fairly easy to set up, plus have really good documentation. And if you decide to really dig into them you'll eventually be able to create any game you want. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Best C++ libraries for 2D game development
    I'd also recommend raylib as an option. Check out its website: http://raylib.com/. It is beginner friendly enough with good cheatsheet and examples. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Question about graphic/game libraries
    Finally, you can use raylib.com , a C library but it has a great interface and multiple examples. Howeve, it is not wide-spread like SDL. Source: over 2 years ago
  • confused new dev
    The easiest option is C# and Unity, even though I think at some point (if you want to experience real programming) you'd better off using a framework. Source: almost 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing GLFW and raylib, you can also consider the following products

Vulkan - Vulkan is a new generation graphics and compute API that provides high-efficiency, cross-platform access to modern GPUs used in a wide variety of devices from PCs and consoles to mobile phones and embedded platforms.

SFML - SFML provides a simple interface to the various components of your PC, to ease the development of games and multimedia applications. It is composed of five modules: system, window, graphics, audio and network.

SDL - Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform multimedia library designed to provide low level...

WebGL - WebGL is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 3D computer graphics and 2D graphics within any compatible web browser.

Godot Engine - Feature-packed 2D and 3D open source game engine.

OpenGL - OpenGL is the premier environment for developing portable, interactive 2D and 3D graphics...