Cocos Engine vs Solarus
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game engines & frameworks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Cocos Engine
Open-source cross-platform 2D and 3D game engine
VS
Solarus
Open-source 2D action-RPG game engine
| Feature | Cocos Engine | Solarus |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Game Engines & Frameworks | Game Engines & Frameworks |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,735 | ★ 730 |
| First released | 2010 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Unity | RPG Maker |
Why pick each one
Choose Cocos Engine if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 9.7k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose Solarus if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Cocos Engine or Solarus better?
Neither is universally better. Cocos Engine has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cocos Engine and Solarus free and open-source?
Yes. Cocos Engine is licensed under MIT and Solarus under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cocos Engine and Solarus with Docker?
Cocos Engine: check the project docs for container support. Solarus: check the project docs for container support.