Side by side

Fabric vs ForgeGradle

Both stand on minecraft mod development tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Fabric

Free plan APILinuxMac+2

Fabric pairs a basic Minecraft mod loader with developer tooling, documentation, and multiple installation routes. Players should check whether their chosen mods also need Fabric API.

Visit Fabric

ForgeGradle provides mod-focused Gradle tooling for Forge and FML, including run configurations, mapping conversion, and dependency handling. Developers should account for the documented limitations of its default mapping sets.

Visit ForgeGradle

The facts

	Fabric	ForgeGradle
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows	Linux, Mac, Windows
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	fabricmc.net	docs.minecraftforge.net
On minecraft mod development tools	#4 of 35	#8 of 35

Fabric: what it does well

Free to use.
Offers multiple listed launcher and server installation options.
Includes templates, command-line tools, and an example mod.
Documentation covers player setup and mod development.
Yarn mappings are offered under CC0.

What to know first

Most mods also require Fabric API.
The loader download is only the bare minimum.
Fabric is not approved by or associated with Mojang.

ForgeGradle: what it does well

Free to use on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Generates configurations for three named IDEs.
Supports client, server, data, and gameTestServer run types.
Offers dependency handling and optional Jar-in-Jar packaging.

What to know first

Requires a Java Development Kit and IDE familiarity.
Default stable and snapshot mappings are typically incomplete.
Those mapping sets are unavailable from Minecraft 1.17 onward.

Alternatives to Fabric Alternatives to ForgeGradle The whole list