Allegro(github.com)

Welcome to Allegro!
Allegro is a cross-platform library mainly aimed at video game and
multimedia programming. It handles common, low-level tasks such as
creating windows, accepting user input, loading data, drawing images,
playing sounds, etc. and generally abstracting away the underlying
platform. However, Allegro is not a game engine: you are free
to design and structure your program as you like.
Allegro 5 has the following additional features:

Supported on Windows, Linux, Mac OSX, iPhone and Android
User-friendly, intuitive C API usable from C++ and many other
languages
Hardware accelerated bitmap and graphical primitive drawing support
(via OpenGL or Direct3D)
Audio recording support
Font loading and drawing
Video playback
Abstractions over shaders and low-level polygon drawing
And more!

News
2026-02-09 - Allegro 5.2.11.3
released!
This is a new stable release, fixing an ABI regression in introduced
in 5.2.11.0.
A summary of the changes can be found here.
Thanks to the early adopters for helping to find the regressions!
You can download the sources and MinGW binaries from GitHub.
Additional packages for other platforms are available on the downloads page.
2026-01-04 - Allegro 5.2.11.2
released!
This is a new stable release, fixing some regressions in 5.2.11 and
5.2.11.1.
A summary of the changes can be found here.
Thanks to the early adopters for helping to find the regressions!
You can download the sources and MinGW binaries from GitHub.
Additional packages for other platforms are available on the downloads page.
2025-12-29 - Allegro 5.2.11.1
released!
This is a new stable release, fixing some regressions in 5.2.11.
A summary of the changes can be found here.
Thanks to the early adopters for helping to find the regressions!
You can download the sources and MinGW binaries from GitHub.
Additional packages for other platforms are available on the downloads page.
2025-12-24 - Allegro 5.2.11
released!
This is a new stable release, containing bug fixes and new
features.
Some highlighted features include a new joystick (gamepad) system
(based on the community SDL controller database) as well as initial
support for OpenGL 3+ on MacOS.
A summary of the changes can be found here.
Thanks to everyone who tested and contributed!
You can download the sources and MinGW binaries from GitHub.
Additional packages for other platforms are available on the downloads page.
2025-04-20 - Allegro 4
moved to its own repository.
We’ve moved Allegro 4 sources to its own repository.
Previously (and, in fact, currently) Allegro 4 was placed in a few
separate branches in the main Allegro 5 repository. This made it hard to
find and cumbersome to use. So, we’ve moved the relevant branches, tags
and issues to a separate repository. We’ll probably make a new release
so that there is also a “latest” release with the relevant source
archives (and also to nominally treat a bit of bitrot).
Note that Allegro 4 should still be treated as mostly abandoned, and
won’t be receving regular updates. This change is for the convenience of
the few remaining users of it, and to enable easier historical
exploration of the repository using Github’s tooling.
2024-12-28 - Allegro 5.2.10.1
released!
This is a new stable release, containing some fixes to regressions
added in 5.2.10.
The changes only affect MacOS, as well as the source packages (which
were malformed in 5.2.10.0). A summary of the changes can be found here.
Thanks to everyone who tested and contributed!
You can download the sources and MinGW binaries from GitHub.
Additional packages for other platforms are available on the downloads page.
2024-11-27 - Allegro 5.2.10.0
released!
This is a new stable release, containing bug fixes, new features and
many assorted improvements. A big new change (that affects the offical
binaries) is that OpenMPT now the default
handler for audio module files, replacing DUMB (although DUMB is still
temporarily provided).
A summary of the changes can be found here.
Thanks to everyone who tested and contributed!
You can download the sources and MinGW binaries from GitHub.
Additional packages for other platforms are available on the downloads page.
2024-01-19 - Allegro 5.2.9.1
released!
This is a patch release for 5.2.9.1, fixing a Linux-only regression
(thanks to Steve Fosdick for finding it and providing the initial
fix).
A summary of the changes can be found here.
You can download the sources and MinGW binaries from GitHub.
Additional packages for other platforms are available on the downloads page.
2023-11-25 - Allegro 5.2.9
released!
After a lot of delays, a new stable release of Allegro is upon us!
There were a lot of bug fixes, and a small number of API improvements.
Thanks to all users who reported issues, filed feature requests and
especially those that sent in pull requests.
A summary of the changes can be found here.
You can download the sources and MinGW binaries from GitHub.
Additional packages for other platforms are available on the downloads page.
2022-08-14 - Allegro has a discord
server!
Some members of the community set up a discord server as a more
modern alternative to the IRC #allegro channel
and allegro.cc forums. Rest
assured, the IRC channel isn’t going away, but it is nice to have
options for those not wanting to deal with IRC limitations. Join it here!
2022-06-05 - Allegro 5.2.8
released!
This is a stable release of Allegro. This release includes many
important bug fixes and exciting new features. Also, for the release we
added an examples section to the
website, which contains runnable (via Emscripten) Allegro examples.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2021-03-07 - Allegro 5.2.7
released!
This is a stable release of Allegro. This release includes many
important bug fixes and exciting new features. Also, for the release we
added an examples section to the
website, which contains runnable (via Emscripten) Allegro examples.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2020-02-09 - Allegro 5.2.6
released!
This is a stable release of Allegro. This release includes many
important bug fixes and exciting new features.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2019-03-03 - Allegro 4.4.3.1
released!
This is a bugfix release of the legacy version Allegro. This release
fixes a small regression in the 4.4.3 release.
You can download
it from GitHub.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to keeping
Allegro 4.x functioning during all these years. It might not be the
newest and shiniest version 5, but it still holds a special place in our
hearts.
2019-02-25 - Allegro 5.2.5
released!
This is a stable release of Allegro. This release includes many
important bug fixes and exciting new (unstable) features.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2019-02-03 - Allegro 4.4.3
released!
This is a bugfix release of the legacy version Allegro. This release
includes a number of bug fixes to make it work better with modern
systems.
You can download
it from GitHub.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to keeping
Allegro 4.x functioning during all these years. It might not be the
newest and shiniest version 5, but it still holds a special place in our
hearts.
2018-02-25 - Allegro 5.2.4
released!
This is a stable release of Allegro. This release includes many
important bug fixes and exciting new (unstable) features.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2017-10-10 - Allegro 5.2.3
released!
This is a stable release of Allegro. This release includes many
important bug fixes and exciting new (unstable) features.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2017-05-04 - Allegro on TuxFamily!
The Allegro project’s developer mailing
list and some downloads are now hosted
on TuxFamily. A big thank you to
them.
The rest (namely, the release archives and binaries) have been moved
to GitHub.
2016-12-12 - Allegro 5.2.2
released!
This is a stable release of Allegro. This release includes many
important bug fixes and exciting new (unstable) features.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2016-08-13 - Allegro 5.2.1.1
released!
This is a patch release of for Allegro 5.2.1. This release fixes a
few API regressions found in 5.2.1 release.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2016-07-31 - Allegro 5.2.1
released!
This is a stable release of Allegro. This release includes many
important bug fixes and exciting new (unstable) features.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2016-04-01 - Allegro 5.2.0
released!
After many years of development in the unstable branch, the next
stable version of Allegro is ready for release! This version brings most
of the features from the unstable branch, but now with a guarantee of
backwards source and ABI compatibility. Allegro 5.2 is source but
not binary compatible with 5.0.
Allegro 5.2 is developed a little differently than 5.0 and 5.1 were.
This version combines both unstable and stable APIs in one branch. The
unstable branch is no more! Unstable APIs may be changed between
versions, or even removed entirely. Because of this, to use them you
must opt into this instability by defining ALLEGRO_UNSTABLE
definition before including Allegro’s headers.
Combining the two branches will result in more rapid bug fixes and
faster addition of new features.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Allegro during
all these years, not only the developers, but the users who have tested
pre-releases, reported bugs and submitted patches.
2016-03-27 -
Allegro now developed on the master branch.
Allegro’s development has moved from ‘5.1’ branch to the ‘master’
branch. Update your clones and scripts which pull the development
version accordingly!
2016-02-28 - Allegro 5.1.13.1
(WIP) released!
This is a bug fix release for 5.1.13 which fixes a regression that
only appears when Allegro is compiled with MSVC compiler. If you are
using a different compiler then there is no need to upgrade.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
2016-01-24 - Allegro 5.1.13 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
2015-12-23 - Allegro on NuGet!
Allegro is now packaged by NuGet!
Currently only MSVC 2015 is supported, but stay tuned as we figure
out what set of platforms and build types to support.
Follow the tutorial here
to test it out.
2015-09-29 - Allegro 5.1.12 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from GitHub. Additional packages for other platforms are available on
the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2015-08-15 - Allegro on Gna!
The Allegro project’s downloads and
developer mailing list are now hosted on Gna!. A big thank you to them.
2015-07-31 -
Allegro’s GIT repository is now hosted at GitHub.
We have moved our official GIT repository over to GitHub.
Check it out at https://github.com/liballeg/allegro5. See the GIT page for more details.
Pull requests welcome!
2015-06-21 - Allegro 5.1.11 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. Additional packages for other platforms are
available on the downloads page.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2015-05-05 - Allegro 5.1.10 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. This is a first release in a long time to provide
Windows binaries. Additional packages for other platforms will also be
available in the coming days. See the Download page for details.
The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2015-04-12 - Ubuntu PPAs now
available.
For convenience to our Ubuntu users (and those using distributions
based on Ubuntu) we now maintain two PPAs. You can use these to
install binary and development packages of Allegro 5 stable and unstable
releases. Check out the bottom of the downloads section for the links.
2015-04-07 - A new
book about Allegro has been published!
A book introducing game programming using Allegro 5 has recently been
written by Frédéric Drouillon, titled Allegro 5 - Programmation de
jeux en C ou C++. This book is available in French, and will surely
be a great read for the French-speaking Allegro 5 users. For others, the
code samples available for download on the publisher’s website should be
of interest as well. Check out the books
section for more information.
2015-01-11 - Allegro 5.0.11
released!
This is a maintenance release for the stable 5.0 branch, with bug
fixes and a few new features. You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
2015-01-03 - Allegro 5.1.9 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2014-05-31 - Go bindings to
Allegro created!
Damien Radtke has created Go
programming language bindings to Allegro 5.0.10.
Check them out at GitHub.
2014-01-12 - Allegro 5.1.8 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2013-06-16 - Allegro 5.0.10
released!
This is a maintenance release for the stable 5.0 branch, with bug
fixes and a few new features. You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
2013-05-12 - Allegro 5.1.7 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2013-03-24 - Allegro 5.1.6 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2013-02-17 - Allegro 5.0.9
released!
This is a maintenance release for the stable 5.0 branch, with bug
fixes and a few new features. You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
2013-01-13 - Allegro 5.1.5 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2012-11-18 - Allegro 5.0.8
released!
This is a maintenance release for the stable 5.0 branch, with bug
fixes and a few new features. You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
2012-10-14 - Allegro 5.1.4 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2012-08-12 - Allegro 5.1.3 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2012-07-04 - Switched to GIT!
As probably one of the last projects, we finally made the switch from
SVN to GIT for version control. Please see that
page for details.
2012-06-24 - Allegro 5.0.7
released!
This is a bug fix release for the stable 5.0 branch. You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
2012-05-27 - Allegro 5.1.2 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
2012-03-04 - Allegro 5.0.6
released!
This is a maintenance release for the stable 5.0 branch, with a
number of new features and bug fixes. You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
2012-02-12 - Allegro 5.1.1 (WIP)
released!
This is a Work-In-Progress (WIP) release of the unstable 5.1
branch. The 5.1 branch is source compatible, but not binary compatible,
with the stable 5.0 branch. It contains provisional new features which
are subject to change at any time.
You can download
it from SourceForge. The reference manual is available online, as is the list of changes.
We encourage users to test 5.1 releases and report bugs, but remember
that they do not provide the stability of 5.0 releases.
Do you want to read older news? Then follow this link.