Lightweight Neural Networks ML Frameworks

Minimal, educational neural network frameworks built from scratch in C/C99/C++ without heavy dependencies. Includes basic implementations of MLPs, CNNs, and training algorithms for learning purposes. Does NOT include production-grade frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch), frameworks with GPU/CUDA as primary focus, or tensor computation libraries.

There are 156 lightweight neural networks frameworks tracked. 4 score above 50 (established tier). The highest-rated is flashlight/flashlight at 56/100 with 5,439 stars.

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#	Framework	Score	Tier	Stars	Language
1	flashlight/flashlight A C++ standalone library for machine learning	56	Established	5,439	C++
2	NVlabs/tiny-cuda-nn Lightning fast C++/CUDA neural network framework	53	Established	4,430	C++
3	tiny-dnn/tiny-dnn header only, dependency-free deep learning framework in C++14	51	Established	6,020	C++
4	Dobiasd/frugally-deep A lightweight header-only library for using Keras (TensorFlow) models in C++.	50	Established	1,119	C++
5	KasperskyLab/knp Kaspersky Neuromorphic Platform	49	Emerging	42	C++
6	wichtounet/dll Fast Deep Learning Library (DLL) for C++ (ANNs, CNNs, RBMs, DBNs...)	46	Emerging	685	C++
7	nntile/nntile A neural network training framework within a task-based parallel programming paradigm	46	Emerging	55	C++
8	pplonski/keras2cpp This is a bunch of code to port Keras neural network model into pure C++.	44	Emerging	681	C++
9	LBANN/lbann Livermore Big Artificial Neural Network Toolkit	44	Emerging	229	C++
10	attractivechaos/kann A lightweight C library for artificial neural networks	43	Emerging	746	C
11	Gattic/glades-ml Open Source C++ library for creating and managing deep feed forward neural networks.	43	Emerging	9	C++
12	OpenPPL/ppl.nn A primitive library for neural network	42	Emerging	1,367	C++
13	gosha20777/keras2cpp it's a small library for running trained Keras 2 models from a native C++ code.	41	Emerging	195	C++
14	77axel/PyCNN A Python library to easily build, train, and test your CNN AI models.	40	Emerging	21	Python
15	BobMcDear/neural-network-cuda Neural network from scratch in CUDA/C++	39	Emerging	87	Cuda
16	xylcbd/EasyCNN easy convolution neural network	39	Emerging	168	C++
17	GarethRichards/Machine-Learning-CPP Code from Michael Nielsen book Neural Networks and Deep Learning ported to C++.	38	Emerging	129	C++
18	LieluoboAi/radish C++ model train&inference framework	38	Emerging	223	C++
19	Thalhammer/snowman Snowboy reimplementation	38	Emerging	95	C++
20	shi-yan/FreeWill A deep learning library in C++/CUDA	38	Emerging	81	JavaScript
21	RishabSA/AutoNeuroNet AutoNeuroNet is a fully implemented automatic differentiation engine with...	38	Emerging	6	C++
22	brohrer/sharpened-cosine-similarity An alternative to convolution in neural networks	37	Emerging	261	Python
23	Tyill/sunnet tiny neural net	37	Emerging	62	C++
24	apennisi/deep_sort Deep Sort algorithm C++ version	37	Emerging	96	C++
25	WICWIU/WICWIU WICWIU(What I can Create is What I Understand)	37	Emerging	105	C++
26	primitiv/primitiv A Neural Network Toolkit.	36	Emerging	177	C++
27	snuspl/nimble Lightweight and Parallel Deep Learning Framework	36	Emerging	264	C++
28	100/Cranium 🤖 A portable, header-only, artificial neural network library written in C99	36	Emerging	604	C
29	Bengal1/Simple-CNN-Guide A beginner’s guide to building Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs).	36	Emerging	32	Python
30	YA2IR/cnn-in-c Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) In C	36	Emerging	2	C
31	hshatti/LightNet Implemented in pure pascal LightNet is an artificial intelligence neural...	35	Emerging	63	Pascal
32	Miguelszzz/simple_mnist Minimalist MNIST implementation with two hidden layers written in C	35	Emerging	1	C
33	artix75/psyc A C implementation of common Artificial Neural Networks	35	Emerging	15	C
34	mz24cn/clnet OpenCL for Nets - A Deep Learning Framework based on OpenCL, written by C++....	35	Emerging	68	C
35	artyom-beilis/dlprimitives Deep Learning Primitives and Mini-Framework for OpenCL	35	Emerging	208	C++
36	intel/clDNN Compute Library for Deep Neural Networks (clDNN)	35	Emerging	576	C++
37	yixuan/MiniDNN A header-only C++ library for deep neural networks	35	Emerging	433	C++
38	lmnt-com/haste Haste: a fast, simple, and open RNN library	34	Emerging	336	C++
39	can1357/simple_cnn Simple Convolutional Neural Network Library	34	Emerging	197	C++
40	graphcore/poplibs Poplar libraries	34	Emerging	123	C++
41	Ricardicus/recurrent-neural-net A recurrent (LSTM) neural network in C	34	Emerging	97	C
42	Bengal1/Simple-CNN-OOP A from-scratch Convolutional Neural Network in C++ OOP.	33	Emerging	2	C++
43	thibo73800/deep-generation I used in this project a reccurent neural network to generate c code based...	32	Emerging	110	C
44	fengwang/ceras Ceras is yet another tiny deep learning engine, in pure c++ and header only.	30	Emerging	127	C++
45	Okerew/larkos This repository shows an alternative neural network structure to modern...	30	Emerging	13	Objective-C
46	A-Georgiou/SmartDNN SmartDNN: A C++ Deep Learning library. Built from the ground up without any...	30	Emerging	4	C++
47	leleonardzhang/Capuchin A framework and model generator for Neural Network inferences on MSP430	29	Experimental	11	C
48	Gattic/NNCreator GUI interface for creating feed forward neural networks and its variants	28	Experimental	6	C++
49	lancopku/meProp meProp: Sparsified Back Propagation for Accelerated Deep Learning (ICML 2017)	28	Experimental	110	C#
50	DomenSoberl/deep-c Pure C implementation of deep learning algorithms	28	Experimental	6	C
51	fkkarakurt/Nerve This is a basic implementation of a neural network for use in C and C++...	28	Experimental	46	C
52	dreamilk/ANN An artificial neural network framework based on c++	28	Experimental	77	C++
53	MGokcayK/gNet mini Deep Learning Library	28	Experimental	6	Python
54	fkkarakurt/iNeural A library for creating Artificial Neural Networks, for use in Machine...	27	Experimental	6	C++
55	iVishalr/cDNN Fast and Efficient Deep Learning Library in C	27	Experimental	18	C
56	siekmanj/sieknet A recurrent/memory-based neural network library implemented from scratch in C.	26	Experimental	57	C
57	DorianBDev/TigiNet TigiNet is a simple c++ neural network library.	26	Experimental	7	C++
58	andreabonvini/pointprocess A C++ Library for Point Process Analysis	26	Experimental	8	C++
59	SorawitChok/Neural-Network-from-scratch-in-Cpp Build a Neural Network from scratch in C++ to deeply understand how it...	26	Experimental	40	C++
60	tungphambasement/TNN Tensor Neural Network - C/C++ Deep Learning Library built from scratch	25	Experimental	3	C++
61	CarloWood/machine-learning My first ML sandbox	25	Experimental	28	C++
62	rusih100/simple-neural-network 🧬 A simple scalable evolutionary neural network in C++	25	Experimental	5	C++
63	mrousavy/BrabeNetz 🧠 A fast and clean supervised neural network in C++, capable of effectively...	25	Experimental	26	C++
64	FFMG/neural-network A simple, from-scratch C++ Feedforward Neural Network with zero...	24	Experimental	2	C++
65	qaz9517532846/mnist_cudnn MNIST handwriting recognition using Deep learning and CUDNN library under ROS 2.	24	Experimental	1	C++
66	SmartPolarBear/cppbp A lightweight extensible library for constructing artificial neural network...	24	Experimental	4	C++
67	jkorsvik/NMBUFlowTorch Implementation of an Expandable Neural Net library - relying on the use of...	23	Experimental	2	C++
68	thejvdev/neural-net-from-scratch Repository for Writing a Neural Networks in the C Language	22	Experimental	—	C
69	zerothorder/synapse a multi-layer perceptron in C++ built from scratch.	22	Experimental	—	C++
70	mpcsource/7_Scratch_Neural_Network A simple neural network library written in C++ for educational purposes. It...	22	Experimental	—	C++
71	ddigiorg/simple-cortex A simple unsupervised on-line learning architecture	22	Experimental	15	C++
72	dragunovdenis/DeepLearning C++ framework for deep neural networks	22	Experimental	4	C++
73	g0d/GANN Geeks Artificial Neural Network (G.A.N.N)	21	Experimental	18	C++
74	Andezion/CLib My attempts to understand neural networks	21	Experimental	2	C
75	iWolf22/neural-network.cpp A neural network written completely from scratch. No PyTorch. No TensorFlow....	21	Experimental	2	C++
76	syedsalman137/mamba-inference-in-c Inference mamba in one file of C	21	Experimental	8	C
77	mesutpiskin/characterRecognition :ab: Character Recognition with Artificial Neural Network ANN - C# Project	20	Experimental	12	C#
78	AyushExel/LibNet Deep Neural Network algorithms library for c++ from scratch	20	Experimental	14	C++
79	Yahia995/tiny-nn Minimal neural network engine built from scratch in modern C++20 with...	20	Experimental	1	C++
80	Magicalbat/TurboSpork A system for creating neural networks in C	20	Experimental	12	C
81	moinfra/sylvan 🌳 An educational modern C++ deep learning framework supporting CUDA	19	Experimental	53	C++
82	mehmet-kozan/simple-neural-network A from-scratch implementation of a feedforward neural network in C# (.NET 8)...	19	Experimental	5	C#
83	lhldev/cneuron Lightweight neural network library in C.	19	Experimental	—	C
84	WW92030-STORAGE/NEURAL2 Neural Networks in C++ (Remastered!)	19	Experimental	—	C++
85	Siwwyy/NN_ENGINE Neural Network engine! Design of code is based on popular Neural Networks,...	19	Experimental	5	C++
86	bundit/neural-network-digit-recognition Multi-layered Convolutional Neural Network written in C++11	18	Experimental	6	C++
87	dredstone1/NeuralNetwork A modern C++ neural network library built from scratch — modular, fast, and...	18	Experimental	3	C++
88	clay-arras/lamppp lamp++💡 fast and lightweight machine learning framework in cpp, supporting...	18	Experimental	3	C++
89	diegofps/wup Fast Weightless Neural Networks implemented in C++ 🏇🏇🏇	17	Experimental	3	C++
90	dongyx/lnn A Command-Line Program of Feedforward Neural Networks	17	Experimental	19	C
91	takara-ai/SwarmFormer-C Full C implementation of the SwarmFormer model architecture.	17	Experimental	5	C
92	MannCode/Mann_NeuralNetwork Handcrafted C++ neural network engine with manual math and training logic,...	17	Experimental	3	C++
93	Gopal-Dahale/hpmoCNN High-Performance Memory Optimal CNN	16	Experimental	4	C++
94	Jens01/NewDann RPROP Neural Network with Delphi	16	Experimental	4	Pascal
95	GGasset/CudaNeatNetwork Neural Network framework made from scratch in CUDA/C++	16	Experimental	2	Cuda
96	unipr-org/deep-neural-network Deep Neural Network Library: A flexible C++ library for building, training,...	16	Experimental	4	C++
97	kripxera1/MNIST-GAN-CPP A MNIST GAN implemented from scratch in C++	16	Experimental	4	C++
98	IltonPfleger/NeuroPulse A small and modular Neural Networks library for C programs	15	Experimental	7	C
99	Az-r-ow/NeuralNet A Neural Network in cpp	15	Experimental	5	C++
100	baimamboukar/neural-networks-in-cpp From scratch implementation of Neural Networks (MLPs) In C++	15	Experimental	—	CMake
101	NTDLS/NTDLS.Determinet Determinet is versatile multilayer perception neural network designed for...	15	Experimental	—	C#
102	Immortale-dev/NerOne Low level C++ neural network engine. The engine provides a huge flexibility...	14	Experimental	11	C++
103	QuanTran6309/NeuralNet A machine learning library C++	14	Experimental	3	Cuda
104	christopher-besch/neural_network Experimental C++ Deep-Learning Framework.	14	Experimental	9	C++
105	Schryzon/Neuro-CPP Syntax Semantic Sentience.	14	Experimental	3	C++
106	karanrobo/ML-Library-in-C A library for training MLP models, written in pure C.	14	Experimental	—	C
107	jmaczan/curiosity Low-level deep learning concepts from scratch	14	Experimental	12	C
108	4imothy/clear_net A framework for the creation and training of vanilla and convolutional...	14	Experimental	12	C
109	inclinedadarsh/logistic-regression-c This is my attempt to do logistic regression the deep learning way in C language.	14	Experimental	1	C
110	nthnn/chisei A lightweight, efficient, and user-friendly C++ library for creating,...	13	Experimental	2	C++
111	emsar69/MNIST-AI-Without-External-AI-Libraries A pure C++ implementation of an MNIST digit classifier without using...	13	Experimental	2	C++
112	Phoenix8215/build_neural_network_from_scratch_CPP Created a simple neural network using C++17 standard and the Eigen library...	13	Experimental	10	C++
113	Enerhim/neuralnetworkc A neural network written in C for classification & regression	13	Experimental	2	C
114	Mgepahmge/NeuZephyr A simple C++ deep learning framework	13	Experimental	2	Cuda
115	yatorho/CHIME A Deep Learning Framework	13	Experimental	5	C++
116	Jaswar/nnlib GPU-accelerated, C/C++ neural network library.	13	Experimental	7	C++
117	JiauZhang/nnops Neural Network Operators	13	Experimental	2	C++
118	git-user-cpp/neural_real_estate_appraisal_calculator :robot: Neural real estate appraisal calculator is implemented in C...	12	Experimental	4	C
119	FahdSeddik/FeedForward-NeuralNetwork-from-scratch This is a Feed-Forward Neural Network with back-propagation written in C++...	12	Experimental	3	C++
120	usamahz/cnn A simple CNN in C from scratch	12	Experimental	3	C
121	ANSHAM1/LSTMiniNet LSTM gate implementation of RNN, demonstrates building deep sequence models...	12	Experimental	1	C++
122	ANSHAM1/ScratchRNNilla ScratchRNNilla is a fully handwritten Vanilla RNN regression model framework...	12	Experimental	1	C++
123	ANSHAM1/ScratchANNet scratchANNet is a minimalist deep learning framework written entirely from...	12	Experimental	1	C++
124	Ilya-sss/Machine-Learning-Logic-Gates-C A lightweight neural network in C that learns logic gates (AND, OR, XOR,...	12	Experimental	1	C
125	b-ionut-r/NeuroCore CUDA-first C++ deep learning framework with custom NDArray, Tensor autograd,...	12	Experimental	1	Cuda
126	Tompil3r/laruen Easy to use C++ library for deep learning and multi-dimensional computations	12	Experimental	3	C++
127	CMaybe/VanillaDNN Dependency-free DNN framework with C++	11	Experimental	2	C++
128	lchdl/Breeze A super light-weight CPU deep learning framework with no external dependency.	11	Experimental	2	C++
129	pablodrake/Deep-Paquito A simple neuralnetwork framework (he a little small uWu)	11	Experimental	2	C++
130	warg-void/Wolf C++ Neural net Implementation (CPU)	11	Experimental	8	C++
131	Rocky111245/Flux-A-Custom-Educational-Deep-Learning-Framework This neural network framework, built entirely from scratch in C++, offers a...	11	Experimental	6	C++
132	Phoenix8215/BuildCudaNeuralNetworkFromScratch Build CUDA Neural Network From Scratch	11	Experimental	22	Cuda
133	udthegooner/neuralnet-cpp-cuda A modular Deep Learning library in C++ and CUDA. Implements full...	11	Experimental	—	Cuda
134	sokmontrey/nodeflow A simple and highly extensible Computational graph library written in C++...	11	Experimental	—	C++
135	Mike7831/Yet-Another-Neural-Network-Library Neural network library in C++	11	Experimental	—	C++
136	UniquePython/cognition A high-performance, C-native tensor and machine learning library for...	11	Experimental	—	C
137	raphaelsenn/neural-network-autograd-cpp A simple feed forward neural network (with autograd capabilities) in C++ (no...	11	Experimental	2	C++
138	harrypaas1/fast-neural-network fast, easy to use c++ neural network for arff files	11	Experimental	2	C++
139	Astrodynamic/MultilayerPerceptron-in-Qt-CPP MultilayerPerceptron Project is a C++ implementation of a multilayer...	11	Experimental	2	C++
140	AndrewDarnall/DeepLearning4All Pet project to fall in love with C++ again	11	Experimental	—	—
141	BinAl-Sadiq/stochastic-gradient-descent Very simple c++ DNN implementation that uses the stochastic gradient descent...	11	Experimental	—	C++
142	K-T0BIAS/Spline-based-DeepLearning Library for Splines Based Alternatives to Neural Networks	11	Experimental	—	C++
143	yadavsidhant/easycnn EasyCNN: A library to create, train, and use custom CNN models with ease.	10	Experimental	1	Python
144	patztablook22/nanuk Basic Deep Learning library written in C++	10	Experimental	1	C++
145	research-note/deep-learning-from-scratch-using-modern-cpp 『밑바닥부터 시작하는 딥러닝』(한빛미디어, 2017), 『Deep Learning From Scratch』 (Hanbit media),...	10	Experimental	1	C++
146	david-alvarez-rosa/neural-network Implementation of a (fully connected) Neural Network from scratch in C++.	10	Experimental	1	C++
147	tingkuanpei/ugraph Deep Learning Framework	10	Experimental	1	C++
148	nabla27/NeuralNet32 Simple Neural Network.	10	Experimental	1	C++
149	crakesh27/CNN-CPP Modular implementation of CNN in C++. Extensible by inheriting existing...	10	Experimental	1	C++
150	TomasVenkrbec/Cpp_MNIST_CNN An implementation of deep learning framework in C++, without the use of any...	10	Experimental	1	C++
151	LowLevelML/C-simple-neural-network A basic and simple neural network written in C. It uses perceptron...	10	Experimental	1	C
152	KenKenhehe/Wheel-DeeplearningFramework A deep learning framework made from scratch using C++ and the Eigen library	10	Experimental	1	C++
153	zroe1/neural-network-from-scratch This repository contains a fully-functional neural network implemented using...	10	Experimental	1	C
154	iWas-Coder/guanaco A simple, uncomplicated, multilayered Neural Network framework written in pure C.	10	Experimental	1	C
155	sopho-s/NN A basic C++ neural network	10	Experimental	1	C++
156	ANDRVV/neuralnet 🤖 A sketch for deep neural network	10	Experimental	1	C++

Comparisons in this category

tiny-cuda-nn and tiny-dnn (53 vs 51) tiny-cuda-nn and neural-network-cuda (53 vs 39) frugally-deep and keras2cpp (50 vs 41)