OpenGL Alternatives for Windows

    There are many alternatives to OpenGL for Windows if you are looking to replace it. The most popular Windows alternative is Small Vulkan iconVulkan, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 10 alternatives to OpenGL and eight of them are available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Windows alternatives to OpenGL are Small Microsoft DirectX iconMicrosoft DirectX (Free), Small Allegro iconAllegro (Free, Open Source), Small GDI iconGDI (Free, Open Source) and Small Bevy Game Engine iconBevy Game Engine (Free, Open Source).

    The list of alternatives was last updated Feb 15, 2021
    OpenGL info, screenshots & reviewsAlternatives to OpenGL
    • 10 alternatives
    •  8 showing

    • 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. View 10 alternatives to Vulkan
      Most users think Vulkan is a great alternative to OpenGL.
      No screenshots yet
      • Free • Open Source
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • Linux
      • Android
      • Chrome OS
      • Tizen OS
      • SteamOS
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      Vulkan vs OpenGL
      pros, cons and recent comments
      I spent half a year studying this wretched API and was very disappointed, it is not designed to work with graphics. This API is made only for implementation in ready-made solutions on opengl to slightly increase the number of frames per second (+5 - +10) in exchange for really titanic efforts (unreadable code in> 10,000 lines). Unfortunately, Vulkan API - fail. Better try DirectX.
      Negative comment • almost 2 years ago

      Because Vulkan is OpenGL's successor.
      Positive comment • about 3 years ago

    • Microsoft DirectX

      Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft... View 12 alternatives to Microsoft DirectX

      Bundleware

      Bundled with Bing Bar.

      • Free • Proprietary
      • Windows
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      • Allegro

        Allegro 4 and Allegro 5 are cross-platform, libraries mainly aimed at video game and multimedia programming. View 25 alternatives to Allegro
        No screenshots yet
        • Free • Open Source
        • Mac
        • Windows
        • Linux
        • iPhone
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      • GDI

        GDI++.dll is a replacement for the Windows default font rasterizer, which gives you a better font-smoothing capability, just like Mac OS X. View 7 alternatives to GDI

        Discontinued

        Abandoned since 2006... : http://drwatson.nobody.jp/gdi /download-en.html

        • Free • Open Source
        • Windows
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        • Bevy Game Engine

          A refreshingly simple data-driven game engine built in Rust. Free and Open Source Forever! View 115 alternatives to Bevy Game Engine
          • Free • Open Source
          • Mac
          • Windows
          • Linux
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        • Amethyst Game Engine

          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. View 23 alternatives to Amethyst Game Engine
          No screenshots yet
          • Free • Open Source
          • Windows
          • Linux
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        • Mantle

          Mantle is a graphics API specification; the software component that makes it easy to apply programming techniques and optimizations written for consoles to PCs with Graphics Core... View 1 alternatives to Mantle
          No screenshots yet
          • Windows
          • Linux
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        • Crystal Space

          Crystal Space is a mature, full-featured Software Development Kit (SDK) providing real-time 3D graphics for applications such as games and virtual reality. View 10 alternatives to Crystal Space

          Discontinued

          Discontinued since July 2012 : http://www.crystalspace3d.org/main/Download

          • Free • Open Source
          • Mac
          • Windows
          • Linux
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          Crystal Space vs OpenGL
          pros, cons and recent comments
          Crystal Space is a software using 3D rendering/drawing APIs. OpenGL is a rendering/drawing API.
          Negative comment • about 3 years ago