• Picks
  • Discover
  • Alternatives
  • About

© 2026 Willet

  • Newsletter
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
Join the Discord (opens in a new tab)
omar avatar

Dear ImGui

Immediate-mode GUI library for building C++ tools and debug interfaces

  • Languages and frameworks
  • Games
  • Developer tools
View on GitHub

What it is

Dear ImGui is a small C++ library for drawing user interfaces in immediate mode: you call widget functions like buttons, sliders, and text inputs each frame, and it produces vertex buffers your renderer draws. The core is a handful of source files with no external dependencies, and backends cover common graphics APIs and platforms. Game and engine programmers use it to build editors, profilers, inspectors, and quick tweak panels inside real-time 3D applications, rather than polished end-user interfaces.

Images

Facts

Stars
76,749 GitHub stars.
76,749

Forks
12,098
Commits
10,279
Contributors
500+
Language
C++
License
MIT
Last commit
Oct 16, 2026
On GitHub since
July 2014
First release
August 2014
Platforms
macOS, Windows, Linux, library
Self-hostable
No
Author
omar
Tags
  • app-framework
  • game-engine
  • debugging
  • ui-components

Last synced from GitHub on Oct 20, 2026

The 10 best overlooked open-source projects, every Monday.

Share and more

Comments

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

Similar projects

  • Arseny Kapoulkine avatar

    meshoptimizer

    C/C++ library for optimizing, simplifying and compressing GPU meshes

    8.6k

What people are saying

Updated Oct 21, 2026
  • Hacker NewsDear ImGui – Bloat-free graphical user interface library for C++Nov 4, 2020 · 284 points · 180 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsDear ImGui: Graphical User Interface library for C++Dec 20, 2023 · 146 points · 109 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsAbout the IMGUI ParadigmAug 22, 2024 · 58 points · 47 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker News10 Years of Dear ImGuiAug 15, 2024 · 86 points · 6 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsImGui: Bloat-Free Immediate Mode Graphical UI for C++ with Minimal DependenciesJan 20, 2018 · 6 points · 1 comment (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“#gamedev #developers #games Dear ImGui”Apr 3, 2025 · 5 likes · 1 reply (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsDear ImGui: Bloat-free Graphical User interface for C++Sep 3, 2026 · 4 points · 0 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker Newsimgui: bloat-free immediate mode GUI for C++ with minimal dependenciesOct 26, 2020 · 4 points · 0 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsImGui: Bloat-Free Immediate Mode GUI for C++ with Minimal DependenciesOct 2, 2018 · 3 points · 1 comment (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsRetained vs. Immediate Mode GUINov 28, 2025 · 3 points · 0 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsDear ImGui 1.84 ReleasedAug 21, 2021 · 3 points · 0 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“FWIW the industry standard for this sort of thing is Imgui: I think every game I've ever worked on has used Imgui somewhere. Looks like there's a Godot…”Jul 13, 2026 · 0 likes · 2 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsProposal: CMake build support · Issue #8896 · ocornut/imguiAug 27, 2025 · 1 point · 1 comment (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“It is Dear ImGui”Jul 31, 2025 · 2 likes · 0 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Bluesky“Ever looked at DearImGUI? heh. It's used a lot in games. It might be too overly-configurable though for many purposes? Don't know. I've used it, but I don't…”Dec 27, 2023 · 0 likes · 2 replies (opens Bluesky in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsImDrawList coding party in 1024 bytes of source codeNov 28, 2020 · 2 points · 0 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsImDrawList coding party – create small visual fxNov 20, 2020 · 2 points · 0 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsDear ImGui: Bloat-free Immediate Mode GUI for C++ with minimal dependenciesMay 4, 2020 · 1 point · 1 comment (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsDear ImGui: Bloat-Free Immediate Mode Graphical User Interface for C++Feb 4, 2019 · 2 points · 0 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)
  • Hacker NewsDear imguiMar 31, 2017 · 2 points · 0 comments (opens Hacker News in a new tab)