Nuklear
Cross-platform graphical user interfaces can be built with Nuklear, a single-header ANSI C library.
About Nuklear
Nuklear is a minimal-state, immediate-mode graphical user interface toolkit written in ANSI C and distributed as a single header file. It has no dependencies and does not include a default rendering backend or OS window and input handling. Instead, the application mirrors its own input state into the library and receives draw commands describing primitive shapes, which it passes to its own renderer. The demo folder contains ready-to-use rendering backends for GLFW, SDL, X11, GDI, Direct3D, Vulkan and others.
Key features
- Single-header immediate-mode GUI library written in C89 (ANSI C)
- No dependencies, including the standard library if not wanted
- Customizable library modules; compile only the parts you need
- Low memory footprint with control over memory usage
- Optional font baker and vertex buffer output
- No global or hidden state
Best for: C developers who want an embeddable GUI toolkit and are prepared to connect it to their own rendering and window code.
Good for
- Has no dependencies and can run without the standard library
- Modules can be compiled selectively to suit the application
- Designed for a small memory footprint with manual control of memory use
Watch out for
- Does no rendering or window and input handling itself, so the application must supply these
- Every inclusion of nuklear.h must use the same optional flags, or compiler errors or stack corruption may result
Nuklear at a glance
- Category
- Development › Developer Tools
- Type
- Open-source project
- Pricing
- Not confirmed. Check the site
- Open source
- Not stated
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 6, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
Guides for Developer Tools
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Nuklear FAQ
Does Nuklear create windows or render graphics by itself?
No. Nuklear does no rendering itself, and it does not handle OS window or input processing. The application provides these parts through its own rendering backend. Ready-to-use backends for GLFW, SDL, X11, GDI, Direct3D and Vulkan are included in the demo folder.
How is Nuklear added to a project?
The library is one header file. It can be used in header-only mode, which is the default, or in implementation mode. Implementation mode requires defining NK_IMPLEMENTATION in one .c or .cpp file before including nuklear.h.
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