QBCore vs ESX: Which FiveM Framework Should You Use?

QBCore and ESX are the two frameworks nearly every roleplay server is built on. Both are free, both are actively maintained, both have thousands of compatible scripts. Choosing between them is not a question of which is better — it is a question of how much you want handed to you versus how much you want to decide yourself.

What you get out of the box

QBCore ships as a fuller package. A fresh install already has an inventory, a phone-adjacent set of resources, jobs, a garage, policing and medical resources, and a shared item list. You can put players on a server and have recognisable roleplay running the same day.

ESX ships leaner. You get the core, player management, a job system and a menu library; most gameplay is something you add. That is more work up front and more freedom later — nothing to strip out before you build your own version.

Neither approach is wrong. If your server has a specific identity you already know, ESX's smaller base means less to fight. If you want a working roleplay server quickly and will customise from there, QBCore gets you further before you write anything.

Where items live

This is the difference you feel daily. QBCore keeps items in a shared Lua file (qb-core/shared/items.lua), so adding one is an edit and a restart. Classic ESX keeps them in a database table, so adding one is an SQL insert.

The Lua file is easier to version-control and diff, which matters once more than one person edits the server. The database table is easier to change without a restart. In practice many servers on both frameworks end up running ox_inventory, which moves items into its own data file and makes this difference mostly disappear.

Jobs and grades

Both use a job name plus a numeric grade, and both gate features on that pair. QBCore defines jobs in shared/jobs.lua; ESX defines them in database tables. The mental model is identical, so job logic ports between them with modest effort — this is not the part that makes migration painful.

Script availability

Both ecosystems are large. Most commercial scripts written in the last few years support both frameworks and detect which one is running, so framework choice rarely locks you out of a specific script any more. Free community resources are more likely to target one, and older free resources skew ESX simply because ESX is older.

Every ATY script detects both automatically, so a purchase does not commit you either way.

The migration question

Switching frameworks after launch is expensive, and the cost is not in the scripts — it is in the data. Player money, inventories, owned vehicles, owned property and job progression all live in framework-shaped tables. Migrating them means writing a conversion for each, testing it against real player data, and accepting that anything you miss is a player's progress you deleted.

This is why the choice matters more than the feature comparison suggests. Pick the one whose defaults you are happy to live with, because the realistic time to change your mind is before you have players, not after.

A short answer

• New to running a server — QBCore. More works immediately, and there is more documentation aimed at people starting out.
• You have a specific server design in mind — ESX. Less to remove before you build your own.
• You already know one — use that one. Familiarity beats the differences described above.

Where to go next

Once you have chosen, the install guides cover the framework-specific details: installing QBCore scripts and installing ESX scripts. Our FiveM Inventory & In-game Editor runs on both, so it is a safe first purchase whichever way you go.

Every ATY script ships with its own setup page in the documentation, and delivery is automatic through Cfx.re Keymaster the moment payment clears. Browse the full catalogue in the store, or open a ticket in our Discord if you get stuck — you talk to the developers who wrote the code.