Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PixiJS VS Cocos2d-x

Compare PixiJS VS Cocos2d-x and see what are their differences

PixiJS logo PixiJS

Fast and flexible WebGL-based HTML5 game and app development library.

Cocos2d-x logo Cocos2d-x

Cocos2d-x is an open-source and cross platform open source free 2D game engine for mobile game development known for its speed, stability, and easy of use
  • PixiJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-25
  • Cocos2d-x Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17

PixiJS features and specs

  • Performance
    PixiJS provides high performance through the use of WebGL, offering fast rendering capabilities that can handle complex scenes and animations efficiently.
  • Cross-Platform
    PixiJS is compatible with various platforms, including desktops, tablets, and mobile devices, ensuring a consistent experience across different environments.
  • Rich Features
    It comes with a variety of built-in features such as sprites, filters, masks, and support for different shapes and textures, which makes it powerful for creating interactive graphics.
  • Ease of Use
    The library offers a user-friendly API and extensive documentation, making it easy to learn and integrate into projects, even for developers who are new to WebGL.
  • Community Support
    PixiJS has an active community and a wealth of resources including forums, tutorials, and GitHub repositories, which help users troubleshoot issues and improve their projects.

Possible disadvantages of PixiJS

  • Size
    PixiJS can be relatively large in terms of file size, which may affect load times and performance, particularly for users with slow internet connections or limited bandwidth.
  • Browser Compatibility
    Since PixiJS relies heavily on WebGL, it may face compatibility issues with older browsers or devices that do not support advanced WebGL features.
  • Complexity
    While powerful, PixiJS can become complex when building more advanced applications, requiring a deep understanding of 3D graphics and WebGL concepts.
  • Limited 3D Support
    PixiJS is primarily a 2D rendering engine and lacks comprehensive support for 3D graphics, which might be a limitation for projects requiring 3D rendering.
  • Memory Management
    Handling memory efficiently can be challenging, especially in complex scenes with many textures and sprites, leading to potential memory leaks or performance degradation.

Cocos2d-x features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    Cocos2d-x allows developers to build games that run seamlessly on multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it highly versatile and enhancing its reach.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source framework, Cocos2d-x provides full access to its source code, which can be modified to suit specific project requirements. This fosters a collaborative community and encourages continuous improvement of the framework.
  • Performance
    Cocos2d-x is written in C++, which generally offers better performance compared to other languages commonly used for game development, such as JavaScript or C#. This can lead to smoother and more responsive gameplay.
  • Rich Feature Set
    Cocos2d-x comes with a robust set of features including physics engines, particle systems, skeletal animation, and more. These features make it easier for developers to create complex and visually appealing games.
  • Community and Documentation
    The framework boasts a large and active community, which can be invaluable for troubleshooting and getting help. Additionally, it has extensive documentation and tutorials which make it accessible to both beginners and advanced users.

Possible disadvantages of Cocos2d-x

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Given its extensive feature set and use of C++, Cocos2d-x can be intimidating for beginners. The complexity of its systems often requires a more in-depth understanding of programming concepts.
  • Limited Built-in Tools
    While Cocos2d-x is powerful, it lacks some of the built-in tools and editors provided by other game development frameworks like Unity or Unreal Engine. This often requires developers to rely on external tools for tasks such as level design and asset management.
  • Manual Memory Management
    Unlike some of the higher-level languages and frameworks that handle memory management automatically, Cocos2d-x requires developers to manually manage memory. This increases the risk of memory leaks and other related bugs.
  • Smaller Asset Store
    Compared to giants like Unity, Cocos2d-x has a relatively smaller asset store, which means fewer pre-made assets and plugins are available. This might lead to longer development times as assets often need to be created from scratch.
  • Lack of High-Level Scripting Support
    While Cocos2d-x does support Lua and JavaScript bindings, it is primarily a C++ framework. This can be a drawback for developers who prefer or are more efficient using higher-level scripting languages.

Analysis of PixiJS

Overall verdict

  • PixiJS is an excellent choice for developers looking for a versatile and efficient 2D rendering engine. Its features and community support make it suitable for both beginners and experienced developers needing a reliable and performance-oriented solution.

Why this product is good

  • PixiJS is a popular 2D rendering engine for creating interactive and visually appealing graphics. It is highly efficient and built on WebGL, which allows for high-performance rendering. PixiJS is also valued for its simplicity, flexibility, and ease of integration with other libraries and frameworks. It has a large community and a wealth of documentation and tutorials available, making it easier for developers to learn and troubleshoot issues. Furthermore, PixiJS supports a variety of rendering needs, such as games, web applications, and other graphic-intensive projects.

Recommended for

  • Developers creating 2D games or interactive applications
  • Projects that require high-performance graphics rendering
  • Web applications needing complex animations and graphics
  • Developers looking for a library with extensive community support and resources

Analysis of Cocos2d-x

Overall verdict

  • Cocos2d-x is a good option for developers looking to create high-performance 2D games, especially those who prefer or are comfortable with C++. Its cross-platform capabilities and active community support further enhance its appeal.

Why this product is good

  • Cocos2d-x is a popular open-source game development engine renowned for its performance and versatility. It is particularly well-suited for creating 2D games, making it a favored choice among developers for mobile game development. Its C++ core grants it efficiency, and it allows deployment across multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. The engine has a robust community and extensive documentation, which aids developers in learning and troubleshooting. The engine also supports scripting through Lua and JavaScript, catering to a variety of programming expertise levels.

Recommended for

    Cocos2d-x is recommended for small to medium-sized game development studios, indie developers, and students who are seeking a cost-effective and flexible solution for developing 2D games. It is also ideal for developers who wish to target multiple platforms without significantly altering their codebase.

PixiJS videos

PixiJS Part 3: Renderer, Ticker, & Stage

More videos:

  • Review - Learn PixiJS in 20 Minutes

Cocos2d-x videos

Cocos2D-x 4.0 Released

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PixiJS and Cocos2d-x)
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Game Development
45 45%
55% 55
Flowcharts
100 100%
0% 0
Game Engine
47 47%
53% 53

User comments

Share your experience with using PixiJS and Cocos2d-x. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PixiJS and Cocos2d-x

PixiJS Reviews

We have no reviews of PixiJS yet.
Be the first one to post

Cocos2d-x Reviews

Best Game Engines for Linux in 2021
Cocos2d-x is an open-source game framework written in C++, with a thin platform dependent layer. It is widely used to build interactive apps and games for Android. There are also JavaScript and Lua bindings included.
Source: kerneltips.com
The Best 15 Mobile Game Engines / Development Platforms & Tools in 2020
Cocos2D-x is a package of 2D game development tools. released by Facebook. One of its best features is that Cocos 2D-x allows you to create very small size games: 1.5 MB. It comes with detailed documentation and it has a large support community. Read and learn how to use it.
Source: thetool.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PixiJS seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 72 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.

PixiJS mentions (72)

  • Trying to Replace the DOM with Canvas — And Failing
    To improve performance, another team built a POC replacing standard DOM elements with a canvas managed by a library called pixi.js. The idea was to boost rendering speed. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Building an AI Powered Camera for David Bowie
    We can now decide how we want to display the data.image result back to our user. You can simply throw it up in an tag or generate a reveal video on the fly like I’ve done using Pixi.JS and MediaRecorder. Perhaps a topic for another dev blog. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Tattooing The Black Keys Fans Using MediaDevices and PixiJS
    For this application, we gain access to the user’s camera using MediaDevices and then place it onto a PixiJS canvas as a video sprite. Then, we load the tattoo as an additional sprite and give it a bit of opacity and blending to bleed it into the user’s skin. Simple controls are added to allow the user to rotate, scale, and position the tattoo for the perfect inking. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Chapter 1: Boring SVG Manipulation
    And canvas felt almost natural and invoked heavy nostalgia from the first time I touched keyboard and wrote primitive program to draw a house out of lines utilizing Basic. Later on I had a chance to broaden my expertise, when I was doing my hobby game project with Pixi and small bits and pieces on FindLabs pages. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • JSON Canvas – An open file format for infinite canvas data
    The canvas in Obsidian is as the whole app very well made. I wondered what they are using as well. My guess is https://www.xyflow.com/, which is for drawing nodes. More general purpose would be http://fabricjs.com/. Or very low level https://pixijs.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
View more

Cocos2d-x mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Cocos2d-x yet. Tracking of Cocos2d-x recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PixiJS and Cocos2d-x, you can also consider the following products

Three.js - A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

Unity - The multiplatform game creation tools for everyone.

Phaser - Desktop and Mobile HTML5 game framework. A fast, free and fun open source framework for Canvas and WebGL powered browser games.

Unreal Engine - Unreal Engine 4 is a suite of integrated tools for game developers to design and build games, simulations, and visualizations.

Paper.js - Open source vector graphics scripting framework that runs on top of the HTML5 Canvas.

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