Side-by-side comparison of two listed Games — real listing data only, no paid placement.
On record, they differ in: pricing (GameMaker Freemium vs Solarus Free); platforms (GameMaker 2 official install links found vs Solarus 1 — store/installer links only); unique tags (GameMaker 2: #no-code #beginner vs Solarus 2: #lua #open-source); category rank (GameMaker #28 vs Solarus not in top 50). Same category (Games). Listing facts only — not a recommendation.
Free 2D game engine for beginners and professional indie developers
GameMaker is a free 2D game engine aimed at both beginners and professionals. It provides tools, tutorials and asset bundles for building indie games with no prior experience required, and is also used to teach game design.
Published 2026-08-13 · Links checked 2026-11-03
Lightweight free and open-source 2D game engine with a graphical editor
Solarus is a lightweight, multiplatform, free and open-source 2D game engine written in C++ with a Lua API. It includes a graphical game editor and launcher, and hosts a library of games made by its community.
Published 2026-08-13 · Links checked 2026-11-03
| GameMaker | Solarus | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| Category | Games | Games |
| Rank in Games | Position #28 of 74 | not in top 50 of 74 |
| Alternatives listed | 12 → | 12 → |
| Shared tags | #game-engine #2d | |
| Unique tags | #no-code #beginner | #lua #open-source |
| Platforms | macOS · Windows | macOS |
| Documentation | Not detected on official site (checked 2026-11-01) | docs.solarus-games.org/ |
| Company | YoYo Games | Solarus Labs |
| Founded | 2004 | Not detected on official site (checked 2026-11-01) |
| In their own words | Make a game with GameMaker, the best free video game engine. Perfect for beginners and professionals. Learn to build your own 2D indie games with our simple…— official site (homepage description), checked | — |
| Official channels | X (Twitter)YouTubeFacebookdeclared on gamemaker.io via schema.org sameAs | X (Twitter)YouTubeRedditFacebookBlueskydeclared on www.solarus-games.org via schema.org sameAs / homepage link with a matching handle |
| Official website | gamemaker.io | www.solarus-games.org |
| Site preview | ||
Rank = neutral rotation by listing ID, not a quality score · how it works
Only platforms with an official store or installer link are listed; others may exist.
GameMaker is Freemium; Solarus is Free. Both are listed in Games on ToolDock.
What they have in common: #game-engine · #2d
GameMaker is listed as freemium (free tier alongside paid plans); Solarus is listed as free. Pricing label set at listing time; official pricing page linked where verified — see each official website for current details.
Both are Games listed on ToolDock, and they share the tags game-engine, 2d.
ToolDock keeps a tag-matched alternatives list for each: see GameMaker alternatives and Solarus alternatives.