{"data":{"slug":"playcanvas","name":"PlayCanvas","tagline":"MIT WebGL2/WebGPU engine plus an optional hosted Editor","category":"libraries","categoryName":"Libraries","url":"https://playcanvas.com","github":"https://github.com/playcanvas/engine","pricing":"freemium","hook":"PlayCanvas is an OSS engine with a hosted Editor that charges for private projects.","whatsGood":"Engine MIT (Copyright 2011-2026 PlayCanvas Ltd.). WebGL2 + WebGPU, Gaussian splats. Registry package playcanvas, or self-host the engine. Hosted Editor Free is 0 USD/month: unlimited public projects, 1GB, download for self-hosting. README names King, Miniclip, Snap, Disney.","theCatch":"Do not conflate the MIT engine with the hosted Editor. Private cloud projects are the paid line (Personal 15 USD/month; Organization 50 USD per seat/month). Cancel and private projects lock until you resubscribe or make them public.","verdict":"OSS engine, optional Editor. Public projects are free; private cloud is not.","addedAt":"2026-09-03","featured":false,"domain":"Graphics & 3D","subSpecialty":"Game Engines","capabilities":["webgpu","webgl","canvas"],"surfaces":["Self-host","Hosted"],"ecosystem":["Browser"],"licenseModel":"Freemium","githubStars":16610},"related":[{"slug":"hono","name":"Hono","tagline":"Tiny TypeScript web framework that runs on every runtime"},{"slug":"phaser","name":"Phaser","tagline":"MIT HTML5 2D game framework with scenes, physics, and tilemaps"},{"slug":"pixijs","name":"PixiJS","tagline":"MIT 2D WebGPU/WebGL renderer, not a game engine"},{"slug":"babylonjs","name":"Babylon.js","tagline":"Apache-2.0 3D engine for the web, now on v9"},{"slug":"colyseus","name":"Colyseus","tagline":"MIT Node multiplayer rooms with state sync"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/playcanvas","html":"/gems/playcanvas","markdown":"/gems/playcanvas.md","category":"/api/gems?category=libraries","categoryPage":"/stacks/libraries"}}