Software Alternatives & Reviews

raylib VS SDL

Compare raylib VS SDL and see what are their differences

raylib logo raylib

Cross-platform, open-source game development library in C.

SDL logo SDL

Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform multimedia library designed to provide low level...
  • raylib Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-08
  • SDL Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-26

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!

SDL videos

Useful review features in SDL Trados Studio

More videos:

  • Review - Reviewing translations in SDL Trados Studio 2019
  • Review - Doral SDL-A All-Season TIRE REVIEW + SNOW

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to raylib and SDL)
Game Engine
47 47%
53% 53
Game Development
48 48%
52% 52
3D Game Engine
45 45%
55% 55
Localization
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

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

SDL Reviews

We have no reviews of SDL yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, SDL should be more popular than raylib. It has been mentiond 18 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.

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
View more

SDL mentions (18)

  • How was Pico8 made?
    In addition to the excellent video /u/DookieChumo linked, you can also look in the manual to see some of the technologies used. It's written in C, using SDL. If you're interested in something like a devlog, you could read the changelog to see its changes and the development of features over the years. Lua is fairly easy to embed into other programs, so you can write programs that use Lua scripts to decide what to... Source: over 1 year ago
  • How does one make their own GUI from scratch? (no GUI libraries)
    You could use the cross-platform library SDL. It has Python bindings: PySDL2. Source: over 1 year ago
  • I want to become a game dev one day, can you guys help me?
    You can use SDL, which is pretty easy to get into, has straight-forward (if somewhat sparse) documentation and has lots of pretty decent tutorials - see the links on the web site. Source: over 1 year ago
  • what #include<iostream> does in C++ Program ?
    Official website is https://libsdl.org where you can read more about download and install this library because it might not work on your computer. Source: over 1 year ago
  • which Library is used to Develop 2D Game in C++ ?
    To Develop 2D Game mostly Game Developer Prefers to use SDL Library it is Simple Media Layer originally Written in C Language but compatible with C++ and run Natively. The website of Libsdl is https://libsdl.org. It is free to use. Source: over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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.

Rev.com - Transcriptions, captions, and subtitles that are affordable, fast, and high-quality.

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.

Lilt - A Twitter text adventure

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

One Hour Translation - Professional translation services for 75 languages on a 24/7 basis.