Software Alternatives & Reviews

raylib VS SFML

Compare raylib VS SFML and see what are their differences

raylib

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

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.
  • raylib Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-08
  • SFML Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29

raylib

Categories
  • Game Engine
  • Game Development
  • 3D Game Engine
  • 2D Game Engine
Website raylib.com  
Details $

SFML

Categories
  • Game Engine
  • Game Development
  • 3D Game Engine
  • 2D Game Engine
Website sfml-dev.org  
Details $

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!

SFML videos

Coding a Simple SFML Game Framework in C++/ SFML

More videos:

  • Review - A Closer Look at SFML
  • Review - ALLEGRO vs. SDL vs. SFML (Game Programming Q&A)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to raylib and SFML)
Game Engine
51 51%
49% 49
Game Development
53 53%
47% 47
3D Game Engine
52 52%
48% 48
Tool
47 47%
53% 53

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 SFML

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

SFML Reviews

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

Based on our record, raylib should be more popular than SFML. 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.

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: over 1 year 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: over 2 years ago
View more

SFML mentions (1)

  • Open source recreation of the PS Vita game -- Calling all creators
    I would like to recreate the Plastic Memories PS Vita game as a free, open source, cross-platform (any platform SFML runs on*) game for everyone to enjoy. I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to put into it (I don't have much time between school and various other projects of mine) but I can handle the code, coordination, and source code hosting. Source: about 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing raylib and SFML, 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.

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

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

Allegro - Allegro 4 and Allegro 5 are cross-platform, libraries mainly aimed at video game and multimedia...

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

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