Free OpenGL Alternatives for Linux

There are many alternatives to OpenGL for Linux if you are looking for a replacement. The best free Linux alternative is Vulkan, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 10 alternatives to OpenGL and six of them are free and available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free Linux alternatives to OpenGL are Amethyst Game Engine, ANGLE, Crystal Space and Allegro.

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Alternatives list

  1. Vulkan icon
     97 likes

    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.

    11 Vulkan alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Chrome OS
    • Tizen OS
    • SteamOS
    • HarmonyOS
    • Nintendo Switch
     
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    2
  2. Amethyst uses gfx-rs to render graphics with Vulkan or Metal. It is meant to be used for 2D and 3D, with various utilities for both types of games. It should be beginner friendly but also allow more advanced uses such as custom render passes and GLSL shaders.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  3. ANGLE icon
     1 like

    The goal of ANGLE is to allow users of multiple operating systems to seamlessly run WebGL and other OpenGL ES content by translating OpenGL ES API calls to one of the hardware-supported APIs available for that platform. ANGLE currently provides translation from OpenGL ES 2.0, 3.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
     
  4. Crystal Space is a mature, full-featured Software Development Kit (SDK) providing real-time 3D graphics for applications such as games and virtual reality. It is free (LGPL) and cross-platform (Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS X).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
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    1
  5. Allegro icon
     12 likes

    Allegro 4 and Allegro 5 are cross-platform, libraries mainly aimed at video game and multimedia programming. They handle common, low-level tasks such as creating windows, accepting user input, loading data, drawing images, playing sounds, etc.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • iPhone
     
  6. Mesa icon
     9 likes

    Mesa is a software library for 3D computer graphics that provides a generic Khronos-compliant OpenGL implementation for rendering three-dimensional graphics on multiple platforms.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
6 of 6 OpenGL alternatives